630 flights cancelled, 82 in Delhi, 50 in Mumbai; no air service in Bengal, Andhra; fliers vent ire for not being informed in advance
Confusion and chaos prevailed at several airports across India on day 1 of the resumption of the flights after two months of coronavirus-induced lockdown even as 630 flights were cancelled, including 82 to and from Delhi and 50 flights to and from Mumbai. The cancellations were caused by the West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh Governments refusing to relent to the requests by the Civil Aviation Ministry to allow flight services from Monday, and limited operations at major airports such as Mumbai, Chennai and Hyderabad.
Consequently, many passengers reached the airports on Monday only to be told by the airline staff that their flights have been cancelled. Many people took to social media to vent their anger. States like Maharashtra, West Bengal and Tamil Nadu, which are home to some of the busiest airports in the country, were reluctant to allow domestic flight services from their airports, citing swelling Covid-19 cases there.
Fliers were taken aback upon their arrival at Terminal 3 of Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport, and vented their ire for not being informed beforehand. However, airport officials said the cancellation took place on account of several States telling the Centre that they were not in a position to operate flights agreed upon earlier.
Delhi Airport had installed a scan-and-print boarding card system for contactless boarding, however the scanner malfunctioned. The Delhi airport could handle 125 departures and 118 arrivals on Monday.
Union Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said on Monday evening, “From no domestic passenger flights yesterday to 532 flights and 39,231 passengers today, action has returned to Indian skies. With Andhra Pradesh set to resume operations from tomorrow & West Bengal from 28 May, these numbers are all set to increase further.”
On May 22, bookings had opened for around 1,100 domestic flights for Monday. The airlines, which were allowed to operate one-third of their pre-lockdown domestic services, have been busy since Sunday night to further rework their flight schedules.
The first flight on Monday took off from Delhi for Pune at 4.45 am under strict regulations recommended by civil aviation authorities. The first flight from Mumbai was to Patna at 6.45 am.
It was decided on Sunday that Kolkata and Bagdogra airports in cyclone-hit West Bengal will not operate any domestic flight between May 25 and 27 but will handle 20 flights each daily from May 28. Moreover, Vijayawada and Vizag airports in Andhra Pradesh will handle just 20 per cent of their pre-lockdown flights from May 26.
Mumbai airport, India’s second busiest airport, will handle only 50 flights daily from Monday, the Centre said, adding Chennai airport will see only 25 arrivals per day. There were no limits set on departures from Chennai airport. Moreover, Hyderabad in Telangana will handle just 30 flights every day from Monday, the government said.
IndiGo president and chief operating officer Wolfgang Prock-Schauer visited the Delhi airport to observe operations on Monday. He said the airline’s operations were running smoothly and passengers were feeling relaxed as there was much less air traffic on Monday.
Airlines were jittery in resuming services as multiple States have put in place separate norms and conditions for quarantining passengers arriving there by domestic flights.
With the aviation sector reeling under severe stress due to the coronavirus-triggered lockdown that began on March 25, the Government had last week announced resumption of domestic flight services from May 25 under specific rules and guidelines.