Tiruvananthapuram Airport halts flights for 4 hours on April 11 for 'divine crossover'

Thiruvananthapuram | Flight services from the international airport here will be suspended for over four hours on April 8 for the smooth continuation of the holy 'Painkuni Arattu' procession of Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple across the runway, TIAL said on Tuesday.

The Thiruvananthapuram International Airport Ltd (TIAL) said that the flight services would be suspended from 4.45 pm to 9 pm on April 11.

It said that the updated timings of the flights are available with the respective airlines.

"The runway at Thiruvananthapuram Airport is closed twice a year to allow the Sree Padmanabha Swamy temple procession to pass through. This tradition, which involves taking the route to Shangumugham Beach for the idols' ritual bath, dates back centuries," the airport said in a Facebook post.

The ritual continues even after the establishment of the airport in 1932 and on these two days every year, flights are rescheduled.

When the airport was constructed, the then Travancore King Sree Chithira Thirunal Balarama Varma had made it clear that facility would be open for public for 363 days in a year and for two days for Lord Padmanabha, the titular deity of the royal family, according to historians.

The airport issues a NOTAM (Notice to Airmen) twice every year before the runway is closed during the bi-annual Alpassi festival which falls in October-November and the Painkuni festival in March-April.