An RAF F-35 fighter jet, which had been stuck at an airport in southern India for more than a month, sparking memes on social media, took off on Tuesday after being repaired by a team of UK engineers, officials said.

One of the world’s most advanced stealth fighter jets, with a price tag of around €100 million, was grounded at Thiruvananthapuram International Airport in the southern state of Kerala due to technical snags.

The aircraft had hydraulic issues and problems with its auxiliary power unit (APU), which were eventually fixed, the airport official said.

The jet will fly to a UK aircraft carrier in Australia’s Darwin, according to reports.

The jet was on a regular sortie in the Arabian Sea in June when it ran into bad weather and could not return to HMS Prince of Wales, the Royal Navy’s flagship aircraft carrier. The aircraft diverted to the capital of Kerala and landed safely in mid-June.

“A UK F-35B aircraft, which landed following an emergency diversion on 14 June, departed today from Thiruvananthapuram International Airport. A UK engineering team, deployed since 6 July, completed the repairs and safety checks, allowing the aircraft to resume active service,” a UK High Commission spokesperson said in a statement.

“The UK remains very grateful for the support and collaboration of the Indian authorities and airport teams throughout the repair and recovery process”, the statement added.

‘I don’t want to leave’

The stranded US-made military jet, manufactured by Lockheed Martin, triggered a slew of memes, especially in India.

A Kerala tourism department social media post showed the plane on the tarmac surrounded by coconut trees with a fictitious five-star review: “Kerala is such an amazing place, I don’t want to leave. Definitely recommend.”

The top official at the tourism department, K Biju, said the post was in “good humour”.

“It was our way to appreciate and thank the Brits who are the biggest inbound visitors to Kerala for tourism,” Biju said.

One meme posted on X showed the plane enjoying snacks with a group of residents against a scenic background, while another also showed the jet converted into a boat house.

Earlier, fears arose that the aircraft could be partially dismantled and transported in a cargo plane if repairs were unsuccessful. However, the UK Ministry of Defence dismissed the speculation.

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After over a month of being grounded at the Thiruvananthapuram airport in Kerala — and inspiring a bunch of memes online — a Royal Navy F-35 fighter jet of the United Kingdom finally took off to return home. The jet had been parked at the Thiruvananthapuram International Airport since June 14 after diverting there over a midair emergency and subsequently developing serious engineering issues.

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The sight of one of the world’s most advanced fighter jets cutting a lonely figure while parked innocuously at the airport became a talking point in India, inspiring jokes but also raising questions about what was wrong with the aircraft. It’s still not known what exactly went wrong, but the British High Commission confirmed on Tuesday that the fighter was flying back after successful completion of necessary repairs.

A spokesperson for the British High Commission said, “A UK F-35B aircraft, which landed following an emergency diversion on June 14, departed today from Thiruvananthapuram International Airport. A UK engineering team, deployed since July 6, completed the repairs and safety checks, allowing the aircraft to resume active service. The UK remains very grateful for the support and collaboration of the Indian authorities and airport teams throughout the repair and recovery process. We look forward to continuing to strengthen our defence partnership with India.”

UK Defence in India, the official account of the United Kingdom’s Defence Adviser to India, Commodore Chris Saunders, also posted an update on X: “Following completion of repairs and safety checks, the UK F-35B aircraft today departed from Thiruvananthapuram International Airport, resuming active service. We are grateful for all the support from the Indian authorities.”

The fifth-generation stealth jet, which landed in Kerala on June 14 after being diverted from the Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales due to bad weather and low fuel, reportedly suffered a hydraulic failure. British engineers have since been working to fix the fault, which affected key components like landing gear, brakes and control surfaces.

The F-35B’s unscheduled and prolonged stay, first parked in the open and later moved into a hangar, has been the subject of much curiosity, memes, and even a cheeky campaign by Kerala’s tourism department thanking the UK for its ‘visit’.

Initially, there were concerns that the jet would need to be dismantled and shipped back on a transport aircraft because of the extent of the hydraulic snag. However, the arrival of a Royal Air Force team with spare parts and equipment aboard an Airbus A400M Atlas on July 6 seems to have turned things around.

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The F-35B, built by Lockheed Martin, is one of the most advanced and expensive fighter jets in the world, costing over USD 115 million each. It is designed for short take-offs and vertical landings and is a cornerstone of NATO air power.

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Kerala has well-developed road and railway systems. It is connected with the states of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka by national highways. A railway coming from the east through the Palghat Gap in the Western Ghats meets with a railway running from north to south through the state and on to Kanniyakumari , the southernmost town of India. There is a major port at Kochi and intermediate ports at Kozhikode , Alappuzha , and Neendakara (near Thiruvananthapuram ); all handle coastal and foreign traffic. Kochi also has major shipyard and oil refining facilities and serves as a district headquarters for the Indian coast guard and as a regional headquarters for the navy. More than 1,000 miles (1,600 km) of inland waterways form the main arteries for carrying bulk freight to and from the ports. Thiruvananthapuram, Kozhikode, and Kochi have international airports.

Aside from agriculture, manufacturing and service activities are important contributors to Kerala’s economy. Traditional cottage industries, such as weaving, the production of coconut fibre, and cashew processing, employ many workers in the manufacturing sector. Of the medium- and large-scale industries, food processing is the principal employer. Other major manufactures include fertilizers, chemicals, electrical equipment, titanium, aluminum, plywood, ceramics, and synthetic fabrics. Banking, finance, and other components of the services sector also employ a significant segment of the state’s workforce. However, unemployment has remained acute , with the state’s high level of education among the jobless exacerbating the problem.

Kerala has great hydroelectric potential, with some two dozen hydroelectric stations operating within the state. Several thermal plants supply additional energy, and in the late 20th century the state began to establish wind farms. Despite its wealth of renewable resources for power generation, Kerala has continued to import some of its electricity from elsewhere in India .

Kerala lacks major reserves of fossil fuels. However, there are moderate deposits of ilmenite (the principal ore of titanium), rutile (titanium dioxide), and monazite (a mineral consisting of cerium and thorium phosphates), all of which are found in beach sands. Other minerals include limestone, iron ores, and bauxite (the principal ore of aluminum). The state is especially known for its high-quality kaolin (china clay), which is used to make porcelain.

Kerala has one of the most advanced educational systems and highest levels of literacy in India. Elementary education is compulsory between the ages of 6 and 14. There are primary, middle, and secondary schools, as well as polytechnical and industrial training institutes, arts and science colleges, and professional colleges. Kerala also has several universities, including the University of Kerala (1937) in Thiruvananthapuram, the University of Calicut (1968) in Kozhikode, Cochin University of Science and Technology (1971) in Kochi, and Kerala Agricultural University (1971) in Thrissur .

The state maintains a relatively high standard of health service. A comprehensive health insurance plan is available for workers in a number of professions, and free medical treatment is offered in many hospitals, health centres, and dispensaries. Among the top priorities of government health schemes have been the establishment of health care facilities in rural areas, the promotion of family planning , prevention of blindness, and control of communicable diseases such as leprosy , tuberculosis , and malaria .

At the local level, the state is divided into districts, which in turn are subdivided for revenue purposes into talukas (subdivisions) and villages. Since the mid-20th century, Kerala’s political experience has largely been one of instability, with a proliferation of political parties and coalition governments.

The structure of the government of Kerala, like that of most other states of India , is determined by the national constitution of 1950. Appointed by the president of India , the governor is the head of the state and functions on the advice of the chief minister, who is the head of the Council of Ministers. The state has an elected unicameral Legislative Assembly (Vidhan Sabha). The High Court in Ernakulam (near Kochi) is headed by a chief justice; appeals from the High Court may go to the Supreme Court of India . Below the High Court are district courts, subdivisional courts, munsifs’ (subordinate judicial officers’) courts, and munsif-magistrate courts. In addition, there are family courts and other courts that handle particular types of cases.

Cultural life

The cultural heritage of Kerala reflects extensive interaction with diverse communities from antiquity to the present. With an array of ancient Hindu temples with copper-clad roofs, later mosques with “Malabar gables” (triangular projections at the rooftops), and Baroque churches from the Portuguese colonial era, the state’s architecture offers a chronicle of the social, spiritual, and political history of the area. Other characteristically Keralan art forms include intricate paintings on wood, thematic murals, and a remarkable variety of indoor and outdoor lamps (from which the state has earned the sobriquet “Land of Lamps”).

Literature and learning, in both Tamil and Sanskrit, have flourished since the 2nd century ce; meanwhile, the Malayalam language, though an offshoot of Tamil, has absorbed much from Sanskrit and also has a prolific literature. Notable names in Malayalam poetry are Tunchattu Eluttaccan and Kuncan Nampiyar among classical poets and Kumaran Asan and Vallathol in the 20th century. In 1889 Chandu Menon wrote Indulekha, the first outstanding novel in Malayalam, for which he received a certificate from Queen Victoria. Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai, who produced hundreds of works before his death in 1999, has remained among the most widely read Malayali novelists.

Kathakali Kathakali performance in Taliparamba, Kerala, India. (more)

Most traditional dances of Kerala pertain to the great Indian epics—the Mahabharata and the Ramayana—or to the honouring of specific Hindu deities. In kathakali, the classical martial dance-drama of Kerala, male performers portray both male and female characters. By contrast, the bharata natyam dancing, dating to early Tamil times, is practiced exclusively by females.