Among these were two SriLankan Airlines flights—one each from Dubai and Doha—an Etihad Airways flight from Abu Dhabi, and an AirAsia flight from Kuala Lumpur, TIAL noted.
The Etihad Airways plane arrived at 3:44 am, the AirAsia flight at 4:37 am, and the SriLankan Airlines flights at 7:44 am and 7:55 am, TIAL reported.
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Previously, it was reported that five flights, including three from the Middle East and one each from Malaysia and India, were diverted to the Thiruvananthapuram international airport due to a cyclone warning affecting Colombo on Friday.
TIAL indicated that additional flights may be redirected to Thiruvananthapuram given the unfavorable weather conditions.
The fifth flight was an Indigo flight traveling from Mumbai to Colombo. As of noon IST, the aircraft that landed in Thiruvananthapuram earlier have not yet taken off due to ongoing adverse weather.
In the meantime, the cyclone that impacted Sri Lanka has resulted in 46 fatalities, with 23 individuals reported missing. The weather department has cautioned that the storm could strengthen as it progresses across the island in the next 12 hours.
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Most of the casualties were linked to landslides caused by heavy rainfall exceeding 300 mm (11.8 inches) in the past 24 hours as Cyclone Ditwah affected the island, particularly in the eastern and central regions.
Nationally, the Disaster Management Centre (DMC) reported that 43,991 individuals had been evacuated to schools and other public shelters, including families trapped on roofs.
Schools remained closed, train services were halted, and the Colombo Stock Exchange implemented an early trading suspension as heavy rainfall continued.
(With inputs from agencies)
(Edited by : Jerome Anthony)
First Published: Nov 28, 2025 12:51 PM IST
