Chennai airport to start partial operations today

Chennai airport is available for limited day time operations for technical ferry and relief flights, an official statement said on Friday.

The airport was shut down till December 6 owing to flooding of the runway due to the floods.

According to a statement issued by the civil aviation ministry, as on 5.30 p.m. on Friday, the water has receded in the manoeuvring area at Chennai airport and the runways and the taxiways are clear of water.

The debris has been removed from the operational area and required repair work on runway and taxiways has been carried out while the serviceability status of all airport systems are under evalution.

Five special trains left for southern destinations yesterday after a days of shut down. State transport department says, 65 percent of the bus services resumed operations in Chennai and more will start plying on the roads today.

Limited air services are operating from the makeshift airport at the naval base INS Rajali at Arakkonam. Chennai Corporation said more than 49 percent of the 859 residential areas in Chennai have been cleared of waterlogging.

According to the statement, a team of Airports Authority of India carried out the inspection of the operational area and in consultation with airline operators and regulatory authorities declared that Chennai aerodrome is available for limited day time operations under Visual Meteorological Conditions for technical ferry and relief flights.

All efforts are being made to make the aerodrome available for all flights for all weather operations at the earliest, the statement added.

After the Chennai airport was shut down couple of days ago due to flooding passenger flights on a limited scale are operated out of Indian navy's airbase at Arakkonam, around 70 km from here.

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