Kolkata airport suspends operations in view of Cyclone Dana

The Kolkata airport suspended flight operations for 15 hours from Thursday evening in the wake of Cyclone Dana, a senior Airports Authority of India (AAI) official said.

Though the flight operations at the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International airport were supposed to be suspended from 6 pm on Thursday, it got delayed a bit.

"On Thursday evening, IndiGo's Amritsar-Kolkata flight was the last flight to arrive in the eastern metropolis and it landed at 6.11 pm. 

The last flight to depart was IndiGo's Kolkata-Guwahati flight at 7 pm," airport director Pravat Ranjan Beuria told PTI.

There was a bit delay in suspending flight operations due to a non-specific bomb threat directed towards Kolkata. The threat was posted on X, the AAI official said, adding it later turned out to be a hoax.

A total of 309 flights will be affected during the suspension of flight operations at the airport.

The airport was supposed to shut down operations at 6 pm on Thursday and resume operations from 9 am on Friday.

Meanwhile, all entry and exit doors of the terminal building were sealed after the last flight departed from the Kolkata airport while the aircraft parked on the bays will be tied up, the airport director said.

In addition, all aerobridges were retracted and ladders tied together to prevent those from moving and hitting the planes during the storm. 

Following the standard operating procedure, all vehicles used in the airside of the airport were removed from the operational area and parked at safe locations, he said.

All ground handling equipment was chained together so that nothing moves due to the gusts.

All ground handling units or agencies ensure that nothing -- no materials related to their work -- is left in the open. 

This is done to ensure that there is no flying debris during the storm. They could cause damage to aircraft parked on the tarmac, Beuria said.

Sources said that airlines worked in sync with the authorities of the airport.

Other standard safety-related procedures such as lowering of high mast lights and mooring of smaller aircraft were also done, the sources said.

No light or moveable objects will be left in the open.

Meanwhile, pumps are on standby at the operational area of the airport to drain out water from the premises in case there is inundation due to heavy rainfall induced by the cyclone, the airport director said.

The state government employees have also been informed to make sure that the area around the airport premises, both city side and air side, are free from water-logging because it needs to be ensured that the approach roads to the airport are clear once operations at the airport resume at 9 am on Friday, he said.

"I have also written a letter to the chief engineer of the PWD department in this regard," Beuria said.

In view of cyclone Dana's impact on the coastal region of West Bengal, including Kolkata, it has been decided to suspend flight operations from 6 pm on October 24 to 9 am on October 25 due to predicted heavy winds and heavy to very heavy rainfall.

The IMD said that the cyclone is likely to make landfall between Bhitarkanika National Park and Dhamra port in neighbouring Odisha early Friday. The maximum speed during the landfall process is likely to be around 120 kmph.