The Hindu Business Line : IA changes timings of outbound flights through Coimbatore

The change in the timing is due to the runway extension-cum-renovation work being planned at the Peelamedu civil airport by the Airports Authority of India (AAI).

The revised timing effective March 1 will see the IC 975 flight from Chennai to Sharjah leaving Chennai early by 40 minutes at 2.20 p.m. (instead of 3 p.m. at present) and arriving at Coimbatore at 3.15 p.m. (3.55 p.m.).

Leaving Coimbatore at 4 p.m. (4.40 p.m.), the flight will arrive in Kochi at 4.30 p.m. (5.10 p.m.) and leaving Kochi at 5.20 p.m. (5.55 p.m.), it will reach Sharjah at 8 p.m. (instead of 8.40 p.m. as of now), according to a press release from Mr G. Ramani Kumar, IA's area marketing manager.

There is however, no change in the timing of IA's inbound flight (IC 976) from Sharjah to Chennai, which will continue to operate at the existing timing.

The AAI, which has proposed to take up the extension-cum-strengthening of the runway shortly, has already sounded on closure of the airport for evening/night operations so as to enable it to undertake an uninterrupted civil/engineering work. It has also advised the airlines operating via Coimbatore airport to rework its timing so as to have the flight operations confined between 2 a.m. and 4 p.m..

It is likely that two other airlines — Air Sahara and Jet Airways that have their evening flight operations through Coimbatore (Mumbai-Coimbatore-Chennai-Delhi/Bangalore-Coimbatore-Bangalore, respectively) will be following suit to reschedule their operations through Coimbatore.