Kolkata airport suspends operations for 21 hours due to Cyclone Remal

The authorities at Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport in Kolkata have announced that they will suspend flight operations for 21 hours from Sunday noon (May 26). This decision comes in anticipation of the possible impact of Cyclone Remal and was confirmed in an official statement issued today, May 25.

The precautionary measure was initiated following a comprehensive meeting of key stakeholders of the NSCBI airport on Saturday.

C Pattabhi, Director, NSCBI Airport, said, “Considering the impact of Cyclone Remal on the coastal region of West Bengal including Kolkata, a meeting was held with the stakeholders and it was decided to suspend flight operations from 12:00 noon IST on May 26 to 09:00 am IST on May 27 due to forecast strong winds and heavy to very heavy rainfall in Kolkata.”

Cyclone Remal, with wind speeds between 110 and 120 km/h and gusts of up to 135 km/h, is expected to make landfall in the coastal regions of West Bengal and Bangladesh around midnight on May 26.

The Meteorological Department has issued warnings that the coastal districts of West Bengal and North Odisha will experience extremely heavy rainfall on May 26 and 27.

In addition, a storm surge of up to 1.5 metres is expected, which could lead to flooding of low-lying areas along the coastal regions of West Bengal and Bangladesh by the time the cyclone makes landfall.