New Delhi: As cyclone ‘Fani’ has moved away, flight operations resumed at Kolkata and Bhubaneswar airports on Saturday, said ministry of civil aviation.
“Flight operations to and from Bhubaneswar airport has resumed. Alliance Air flight from Ranchi is the first flight to land,” tweeted the ministry on Saturday at 4.26 pm.
Kolkata airport, owned and managed by Airports Authority of India (AAI), also tweeted that flight operations have resumed.
“Air India AI 743 to Agartala is the first departure from Kolkata at 0957 hrs; G8 101 from Delhi is the first flight to land in Kolkata at around 1010 hrs,” it said on Twitter.
IndiGo, which has around 44 per cent domestic passenger market share, resumed its operations to and from Bhubaneswar airport at 5.20 pm and Kolkata airport at 3.30 pm.
About the Bhubaneswar airport, which is also owned and managed by AAI, the civil aviation ministry said Saturday,”After the devastating effects of Cyclone Fani, all foreign objects and debris from the operational area have been cleaned up.”
On Friday, the equipment and infrastructure at the Bhubaneswar airport was considerably damaged due to the cyclone ‘Fani’.
“The passenger terminal building at Bhubaneswar has been considerably damaged, particularly at the rooftop and facades… Based on the feedback and action taken, it was decided that Bhubaneswar will resume commercial flight operations with effect from 1300 IST on May 4, 2019,” the ministry had said Friday in a statement.
A day after the “rarest of rare” summer cyclone ‘Fani’ ravaged parts of Odisha, killing at least 12 people, a massive restoration-and-relief work was launched on war-footing on Saturday across 10,000 villages and urban areas, officials said.
The Indian Coast Guard has deployed its assets, including ships and a helicopter, in search- and-rescue operations in Odisha after Cyclone Fani pummelled the coastal state on Friday.
The ships and a helicopter are trying to locate fishing boats at sea.
“While 02 @CoastGuard Ships and 01 Helicopter deployed off #Odisha Coast continue to look for marooned fishing boats at sea if any #Haldia dock reports operational normal as of now…,” the Coast Guard tweeted.
The Coast Guard had kept all its assets on standby to be pressed into service for the rescue operations.
On Friday, the Coast Guard sent its ship to Gopalpur near Odisha ferrying food and relief material for the cyclone-affected areas.
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