The suspension of operations at Cochin International Airport will continue till 2pm on Saturday, the airport’s managing director said. Cochin International Airport had initially announced that operations would be suspended till Wednesday afternoon. V.J. Kurien, managing director of Cochin International Airport Limited, explained the suspension of services was necessitated by increase in level of water as a result of flooding from the Periyar. Currently about 1,100 cusecs of water per hour is flowing from the river in the vicinity of the airport, but this is expected to increase to 1,500-1,600 cusecs per hour by Thursday.

Cochin International Airport’s official website showed that several flights had been diverted, cancelled and indefinitely delayed. The decision to suspend the operations was taken after shutters of the Idamalayar and Cheruthoni dams, part of Idukki reservoir, were opened on Tuesday evening to release excess water. The Cochin International Airport is situated near the Periyar river bank.The arrival operations at Cochin International Airport were suspended for two hours on August 9 in view of possible inundation in the airport area. The operations were resumed later on. Torrential rains, overflowing rivers and a series of landslides have claimed 40 lives in Kerala over the past week.