Over 80 flights cancelled in Delhi, passengers slam airlines for no prior intimation
The development comes after few states objected to the Centre’s plan to restart domestic airlines from May 25, following which last-minute changes were amended to the earlier rules on Sunday evening.
by India Today Web DeskHIGHLIGHTS
- Last minute changes on Sunday have led to many flight cancellations on Monday
- Over 80 flights scheduled to take off from Delhi have been cancelled
- Angry passengers have take to social media to slam airlines for no prior information regarding the cancellation
Many passengers who booked domestic flights to travel on Monday found that their tickets have been cancelled after reaching the airport. Most of them said they did not get any prior intimation about the cancellation from either airlines or government.
The development comes after few states objected to the Centre’s plan to restart domestic airlines from May 25, following which last-minute changes were amended to the earlier rules on Sunday evening.
Speaking to news agency ANI, a passenger who booked an Air India flight said her ticket was cancelled without any prior intimation.
It may be noted that the Maharashtra government has only allowed 25 takeoffs and landings from Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport from today as coronavirus cases continue to spike.
Another Air India flight from Bengaluru to Hyderabad was also cancelled without prior notice, reported the news agency. Passengers who spoke to the publication said they found out about the cancellation only after their boarding passes were scanned in the airport.
That’s two Air India flights cancelled without prior notice.
Over 80 flights cancelled in Delhi
It has come to light that at least 82 flights scheduled to take off from Delhi today have been cancelled. Reports of more cancellations could emerge as many states have capped the number of incoming and outgoing flights on a daily basis.
Most of the cancellations, however, are flights to and from West Bengal, which said it will not be able to resume operations from today as it is dealing with a twin-crisis situation after Cyclone Amphan.
It will allow operations to start from May 28.
In an urgent meeting held yesterday, representatives of many states included Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal expressed concern over resuming domestic flights at a time when coronavirus cases in India are spiking.
The last-minute guidelines led to chaos on Monday as many passengers who booked flights to were either asked to reschedule or ask the airline for a refund.
Some of them found out about the cancellation only after they reached the airport as they received no prior update about it from airlines or travel agencies.
(With inputs from Poulomi Saha)