Cyclone Remal: Kolkata airport resumes flight operations after 21-hour suspension

Flight operations at Kolkata Airport resumed on Tuesday after a 21-hour suspension due to Cyclone Remal, an official confirmed on Monday. The cyclone made landfall around midnight on Sunday, bringing heavy rain to southern parts of West Bengal, including Kolkata.

Flight operations resumed at Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport, Kolkata at 0859 hrs, after it was closed for flight operation yesterday in view of the #CycloneRemal. pic.twitter.com/crpOWTLO09

— Kolkata Airport (@aaikolairport) May 27, 2024

The first flight to depart on Monday was IndiGo’s Kolkata-Port Blair flight, which took off at 8:59 am. The first flight to land was SpiceJet’s flight from Guwahati, arriving at 9:50 am, according to a top official from the Airports Authority of India (AAI). Check-in processes were underway for other flights as well.

The last flight to depart from Kolkata airport before the suspension was at 12:16 pm on Sunday. While flight operations have begun to resume, sources at the airport indicated that it will take some time for the situation to normalize fully.

The decision to suspend flight operations for 21 hours from Sunday noon was taken as a precautionary measure after a meeting with stakeholders at NSCBI Airport on Saturday, considering the possible impact of Cyclone Remal.