Cochin Airport losses pegged at Rs 230 crore

KOCHI: The Cochin International Airport Ltd (Cial) is estimated to have suffered a loss of around Rs 230 crore in the floods. The management has already deployed a team to restart the airport’s operations by August 26.
“The reconstruction work has already started. We are also erecting readyto-use structures, as per security norms, to meet the deadline,” an official said, adding that around 200 workers have been engaged to clean the terminal building.
The suspension of operations for more than a week during the Eid and Onam season is a major setback to the airport which handles around 1,600 flights a week.The duty-free sales is another loss. “The average duty-free sale at Cial during peak season is around $1.5 lakh a day and we missed out on that too,” the official said.
Around 2.6km of the airport’s perimeter wall was destroyed after the Periyar river overflowed and it has to be erected. “We will first put metal sheets over reinforced pillars and then gradually erect the wall. The runway has also been damaged. Several patches have to be drilled out and filled. The milling works on the runway will be completed in two days,” he said.
Officials of Airport Authority of India (AAI) said they had already begun repairs of the instrument landing system at the airport. The floods had also damaged the X-ray machines and conveyor belts, they said. Four of the eight solar power plants damaged in the rains have been repaired while around 800 runway lights need to be replaced.
The Cial has, meanwhile, moved a team to Kochi naval airbase to operate the civilian enclave there.