Kerela floods: DGCA asks domestic airlines to mount additional flights

"Out of 71 arrivals and 74 departures of scheduled domestic airlines to/from Cochin,  23 arr and 24 dep have been rescheduled and additional 19 arr/dep have been mounted to/from Trivandrum, Calicut and Coimbatore airports," a statement from the Ministry of Civil Aviation said.

Nine foreign carriers operating to Cochin have also rescheduled their flights to/from Trivandrum.

Scheduled domestic airlines have also been advised to ensure that airfares for flights to/from Trivandrum and Calicut airports in Kerala and nearby airports i.e. Mangalore and Coimbatore are kept at optimal level proportionate to sector distance so that travelling public is not inconvenienced.

Accordingly, airlines have been requested to cap the maximum fare around INR 10,000 on longer routes and around 8000 on shorter routes to/from Kerala and nearby airports. 

The DGCA is also monitoring airfares on 32 direct routes operating to/from Trivandrum, Calicut, Coimbatore and Mangalore. Spike in airfare on few routes have been observed.

Concerned airlines have been advised to cap the airfare on these flights.

The DGCA has also convened a meeting with higher management of domestic airlines on Friday in this regard.

Meanwhile, as many as 167 people died in the state of Kerala.

The flood has been caused by torrential rains, which started on Aug 8.