Kerala is coping up with the worst flooding in 100 years. The Cochin International Airport was submerged in water and will remain closed until August 26, Sunday.

Naturally, the attempt was to bring connectivity back to Kerala as soon as possible. Cochin is a primary gateway into Kerala after all. After the tragedy, the authorities swung into action quickly. On Friday, a decision was taken that the Cochin Naval Base would be opened to commercial carriers for their flights. On Saturday, Air India flew in an ATR72 to check the feasibility to operate out of the airport. It was all systems go. From there, other airlines have followed the lead as well.

Relief flights from the Kochi naval base started today morning. Air India’s flight from Bengaluru was the first flight to arrive. Here’s a schedule of all relief flights planned to the Cochin Naval airfield, Thiruvananthapuram and Kozikhode. Please spread the word.

Jet Airways

• 9W1717  Bengaluru – Thiruvananthapuram  15:00 (Departure)  16:40 (Arrival)
• 9W1718  Thiruvananthapuram – Bengaluru   17:10 (Departure)   18:50 (Arrival)

For Jet Airways passengers with confirmed tickets into and out of Cochin for travel up to Aug 26, 2018, 9W has waived no-show penalties, fare difference (if any), refund and date/flight change up to Sep 15, 2018, due to the closure of the Cochin airport.

Vistara

• UK841  Delhi – Thiruvananthapuram. 06:00 (Departure)  09:20 (Arrival)
• UK842  Thiruvananthapuram – Delhi   10:00 (Departure). 13:25 (Arrival)
• UK843  Delhi – Thiruvananthapuram   14:05 (Departure). 17:25 (Arrival)
• UK844  Thiruvananthapuram – Delhi   18:05 (Departure). 21:30 (Arrival)
• UK845 Chennai – Thiruvananthapuram 14:45 (Departure). 16:05 (Arrival)  No ops on Tuesday
• UK846 Thiruvananthapuram – Chennai 16:40 (Departure). 17:55 (Arrival)  No ops on Tuesday

Options for customers are as below:

• Option 1: Customers can be rebooked, if they so request, to fly to/from Trivandrum instead of Kochi, on a first-come-first-serve basis. There will be no fee or fare difference payable. Vistara will however not be providing transportation between Trivandrum and Kochi, or the customers’ final destination; that will be solely the customers’ responsibility.
• Option 2: Vistara will extend a full refund for all cancelled flights up to and including 26th August with no cancellation fee, and a full refund. For those who wish to take an alternative flight to or from Kochi after the airport re-opens, there are three options:
  • Cancel your flight and get a full refund for your existing booking, and after that make a fresh reservation for a future date; or
  • Use your existing booking for a future date on a space-available standby basis, in which case Vistara will not charge a change fee or fare difference; or
  • Use your existing reservation for a future date on a confirmed seat basis, in which case Vistara will not charge a change fee but fare difference, if any, will be applicable.

Air India/ Alliance Air

• 9I505. Bengaluru – Kochi   06:00 (Departure). 07:20 (Arrival)
• 9I506. Kochi – Bengaluru. 08:10 (Departure). 09:30 (Arrival)
• 9I515. Bengaluru – Kochi    10:00 (Departure). 11:20 (Arrival)
• 9I516. Kochi – Bengaluru.  12:10 (Departure). 13:20 (Arrival)
• 9I511. Coimbatore – Kochi .15:40 (Departure) . 16:25 (Arrival)
• 9I512. Kochi – Coimbatore .17:15 (Departure) . 18:00 (Arrival)

In View of inclement weather conditions resulting in inconvenience to stranded passengers, applicable penalties of re-issuance, date change, no-show, cancellation and refund charges for travel from/to Kochi, Kozhikode and Thiruvananthapuram for both Domestic and International flights, stand waived on all tickets issued on/before 17th August 2018 for travel from 15th August to 26th August 2018. Flights ex-Kochi will operate to/from the naval airbase.

IndiGo

• 6E7223  Bengaluru – Kochi
• 6E7224  Kochi – Bengaluru
• 6E7225 Bengaluru – Kochi
• 6E7226 Kochi – Chennai
• 6E7227 Chennai – Kochi
• 6E7228 Kochi- Bengaluru

SpiceJet

 

• SG9073 Chennai- Thiruvananthapuram . 10:05 (Departure) . 11:40 (Arrival) . All days
• SG9074 Thiruvananthapuram – Chennai . 12:00 (Departure) . 13:35 (Arrival) . All days
• SG911  Bengaluru – Thiruvananthapuram . 12:25 (Departure) . 13:25 (Arrival) . No ops on Tuesday
• SG912 Thiruvananthapuram – Bengaluru . 13:55 (Departure) . 14:55 (Arrival) . No ops on Tuesday
• SG608 Kozhikode – Chennai . 10:20 (Departure) . 11:35 (Arrival) . All days
• SG605 Chennai – Kozhiokode . 20:40 (Departure) . 22:05 (Arrival) . All days

We will keep updating the blog as more information flows in. Our prayers for everyone affected by the floods in Kerala.