Chennai: The airport authorities here have received requests from national carrier Air India to operate flights on Sunday after the AAI announced day-time operations of passenger flights from the airport.
"Air India has informed us that it will operate a chartered flight to Port Blair and one flight to and fro Chennai on Sunday," sources said this morning. The Air India chartered flight AI-549 is scheduled to take off at 10 am while the airlines' flight AI 429 is scheduled for arrival at Chennai Airport at 1.40 pm, they said.
The same flight AI 430 (AI 429 on return) will depart for New Delhi at 2.45 pm, they added. A total 34 aircraft of various airlines were stranded at the airport when the Airports Authority of India (AAI) had decided to shut the airport till December 6 in the wake of battering rains that left the facility unusable.
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Day-time passenger flights to operate from Chennai airport tomorrow
The AAI had on Saturday declared the runway fit for operating technical ferry and relief flights after an inspection by its staff.
A decision regarding full-fledged operations will soon be taken by the aviation regulator DGCA. Four ferry flights that were parked at Chennai Airport departed for Delhi, Mumbai and Port Blair yesterday while one Cargo flight Singcargo B747 departed for Singapore via Bangalore.
On an average, Chennai airport handles 320 landings and departures. As many as 20 international airlines operate from the airport apart from most of the domestic carriers.
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Fresh spell of rain expected
The Met department has predicted heavy rains in Karaikal and Puducherry. The officials said isolated heavy rain may also occur over Kanyakumai and Tirunelveli districts of south Tamil Nadu.
The Met office said low pressure area over Southwest Bay of Bengal and adjoining Sri Lanka off Tamil Nadu coast with associated upper air cyclonic circulation extending upto 4.5 km above mean sea level persists, but the system was moving away reducing the possibility of rainfall considerably.
