Over 1000 stranded passengers rescued from Chennai airport

Evacuation operations are on at the Chennai airport, with over a thousand stranded passengers rescued on Thursday.

"The remaining 150 passengers will be rescued by Friday morning. Some of the evacuated passengers have been sent by road to Bangalore while some others have been flown out from the nearby Rajali Naval Air base at Arakkonam," Minister of State for Civil Aviation and Tourism and Culture Mahesh Sharma said in a press conference in New Delhi this evening.

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The Minister also informed that it has been decided to start limited commercial flight operations from Rajali Naval Air base from tomorrow.

"Air India and some private airlines have agreed to operate 6 flights from Arakkonam tomorrow and the day after tomorrow. Rs. 1000/ as fare will be charged for travelling to southern states and Rs. 2000/ will be charged for northern states," Sharma added.

"Manual ticketing for the flights will be done at the Rajali Naval Air base. Passengers can carry only hand baggage in these flights, check-in baggage will not be allowed. Railways will operate shuttle services from Chennai Beach station to Arakkonam," he said.

The minister also said that the flight details of these limited sorties will be available on DGCA website.