The Cochin International Airport (CIAL) on Wednesday suspended all flight operations till Saturday 2 pm as water level has increased in the airport area following continuous rains and the opening of dam shutters in Periyar river.

"Kochi Airport operations temporarily suspended till 18th Saturday 2 pm since the inflow of water is still on a raising trend. We are working hard to drain out the storm," the airport said in a statement.

The decision to suspend the operations was taken after shutters of the Idamalayar and Cheruthoni dams, part of Idukki reservoir, were opened on Tuesday evening to release excess water.

Airlines including IndiGo, Air India, Jet Airways, Vistara and SpiceJet have announced the suspension of their operations to Kochi.

"All flights to/fro Kochi, stand cancelled till Aug 16, 2018, due to runway unavailability owing to flood situation. For cancellations/rescheduling, please visit bit.ly/2ndGnZ8 We hope everything gets normal soon," IndiGo said in a tweet.

All flights to/fro Kochi, stand cancelled till Aug 16, 2018 due to runway unavailability owing to flood situation. For cancellations/rescheduling, please visit https://t.co/ofwzjniT1lWe hope everything gets normal soon.

— IndiGo (@IndiGo6E) August 15, 2018

Air India tweeted, "In view of suspension of operations at @KochiAirport, penalties on no-show, date/flight change or cancellations on all confirmed tickets to and from Cochin are waived off. Pax may contact #airindia call centre or #airindia website."

#FlyAI :#UPDATE #airindia In view of suspension of operations at @KochiAirport , penalties on no-show, date/flight change or cancellations on all confirmed tickets to and from Cochin are waived off. Pax may contact #airindia call centre or #airindia website. pic.twitter.com/LB6IDCmng6

— Air India (@airindiain) August 15, 2018

Jet Airways is making alternative flight arrangements for its guests including, operating a special flight and upgrading existing ones to ferry guests to Coimbatore, the company said in a statement.

The airline has also waived off date/ flight change, refund, no-show penalties and fare difference.

Visatara also waived off penalties on no-show and said the airlines will provide full refund for all the cancelled flights. The company is exploring the feasibility of operating the flights from Trivandrum and Calicut airports until CIAL reopens, Vistara said in a statement.

From 4:20 am onwards, 12 international flights have been diverted, two international flights cancelled and four flights delayed. As many as 14 domestic flights have been canceled and 11 domestic flights have been delayed, reported The Times of India.

The airport is situated near the Periyar river bank.

CIAL, which decided to suspend the arrival operations at 4 am to 2 pm on Wednesday as a precautionary measure, took the decision to shut the airport till Saturday after reviewing the situation.

The arrival operations at the airport were suspended for two hours on August 9 in view of possible inundation in the airport area.

With inputs from PTI.

Disclosure: Vistara is one of the launch partners of CNBC-TV18.com.

First Published:Aug 15, 2018 11:00 AM IST