Overview
- Thiruvananthapuram International Airport, which issued an advisory Wednesday, will pause flights Thursday from 4:45 pm to 9:00 pm to let the Painkuni Arattu procession cross the runway.
- Passengers were told to check revised departure and arrival times with their airlines as schedules shift during the closure.
- Painkuni Arattu is the closing sea-bath procession of a 10-day festival in which the Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple deities are carried to Shanghumugham Beach.
- The runway crossing predates the airport’s 1932 opening, and historians say a Travancore king set aside two days each year for the deity when the site was chosen.
- TIAL issues formal NOTAMs for these biannual closures during the Painkuni and Alpassi festivals, a practice that continues under current management with flights rescheduled to limit disruption.