Cochin International Airport (IATA: COK, ICAO: VOCI) operated by Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL), will be closed for operations between 0430 hours UTC and 1230 hours UTC from 20th November 2019 until 28th March 2020. This translates to closure from 1000 hours to 1800 hours local time, duration of 8 hours daily.
The closure is due to the only runway at the airport requiring a re-surfacing along with the taxiways. The runway will be resurfaced up to specific reaches each day. In addition to the runway work, the aeronautical ground lights will also be upgraded from CAT I to CAT III and will include Runway Edge, Touch Down Zone, Runway Threshold, Runway End, Runway Centreline, Approach and Rapid Exit Taxiways Indicator lights. To increase the movements at Cochin, the airport will add a Rapid Exit Taxiway and an Exit Taxiway, during this work.
The airport will not be available as alternate airport for the entire duration as it caters to the increased load and limited resources during the closure period.
Cochin is the busiest and the largest airport in Kerala – which has the distinction of having four international airports. The airport recently inaugurated a new Terminal 3 – dedicated exclusively for International operations. The airport has a single runway which is 3400 mtr long. Last year the airport suffered due to the massive floods in the state.
Winter is the peak season for the state of Kerala and Cochin acts a gateway to the backwaters of the state in addition to the city being the commercial capital attracting business traffic. Nearby Trivandrum could benefit from the tourism point of view during the closure period.
The closure will have an higher impact on domestic flights with almost all airlines operating to Cochin being impacted.
NetworkThoughts 