Flight Services Unavailable at Thiruvananthapuram Airport for 5 Hours Today
GG News Bureau
Thiruvananthapuram, 23rd Oct. Thiruvananthapuram Airport Suspends Flight Services for 5 Hours Today
Flight services at the international airport in Thiruvananthapuram will be temporarily suspended for five hours on Monday. This is to allow the traditional Arattu procession of the Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple to pass through the runway, according to the Thiruvananthapuram International Airport Ltd (TIAL).
The suspension of flight services will be from 4 pm to 9 pm in order to facilitate the Alpassi Arattu procession. As a result, four flights have been rescheduled, the airport announced.
Once the procession is complete and returns to the temple, the runway will be cleaned and inspected before flight services can resume, TIAL stated.
This practice of pausing airport operations and rescheduling flights twice a year has been going on for decades. It allows the bi-annual ceremonial procession of the Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple to pass through the runway.
The tradition of the temple procession passing through the airport route to reach the Shangumugham beach for the holy bath of the idols dates back centuries. It has continued even after the airport was established in 1932.
Historians note that when the airport was built, the then Travancore King Sree Chithira Thirunal made it clear that the facility would be open to the public for 363 days a year, with only two days reserved for Lord Padmanabha, the titular deity of the royal family.
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