Flight operations at Kolkata airport resumed on Monday following a 21-hour suspension due to Cyclone Remal, as confirmed by an official on Monday.
The first departure on Monday was IndiGo's Kolkata-Port Blair flight at 8:59 am, while the initial arrival in Kolkata was SpiceJet's flight from Guwahati, touching down at 09:50 am, stated a top official from the Airports Authority of India (AAI). Check-in was on for some other flights, the official said. The last flight to depart from Kolkata airport on Sunday was at 12.16 pm.
While the resumption of flight operations has commenced, sources at the airport have indicated that it will take some additional time for the situation to return to normal. The cyclone, which made landfall around midnight on Sunday, resulted in heavy rainfall across the southern part of West Bengal, including Kolkata. In response, the authorities at Kolkata airport chose to suspend flight operations for a period of 21 hours starting from noon on Sunday, considering the potential impact of Cyclone Remal.
The precautionary measure was taken after a meeting of the stakeholders of the NSCBI Airport here on Saturday, the official said.