Scenes of chaos unfolded at Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport, as several flights were delayed due to the impact of Cyclone Biparjoy. Some flights have also stuck at Pune airport leaving passengers with no other alternative.
Visuals shared on Twitter showed over hundreds of flyers standing in a long queue at the Check-in area. See how passengers expressed their anger on social media while stranded at airport –
In a tweet, a passenger named Dheeraj R Patil said, “Indigo International flight Mumbai T2 – look at the crowd and only 4 windows open – what is the use of web check in ? Airline travel was a privilege but airlines like Indigo had made it nightmares. What about senior citizens ?& is India shining?”
Another person named Suchit Gala said, “IndiGo6E flight no 6E 6386 Goa to Mumbai scheduled at 6.55 pm is still stranded at the airport. First they waited for the plane to arrive from Mumbai which got delayed by 3 hours, then they said there are no pilots and kept pushing the timeline by 15 mins to 30 mins.”
Sharing a video Hamza Chaudhary, a passenger of Indigo flight from Indore to Mumbai said, “Indore to mumbai dep time 23.10 Now its 3:50 Flight is missing Staff is confused what’s happening Indigo airport manager not available Ms nisha.”
What airlines said:-
Indigo:
In a tweet, Indigo said, “We understand your concern and we’re sorry for the delay. Please know It’s our constant endeavor to provide a hassle-free service however certain unanticipated challenges can come our way which may disrupt our operations.”
In another tweet, the airline said, “Given the nature of our operation, certain unanticipated schedule changes become inevitable and are beyond our control.”
Air India:
In a statement, Air India said, “Inclement weather conditions and the temporary closure of Runway 09/27 at the Mumbai airport, in addition to other consequential factors beyond our control have resulted in delays and cancellation of some of our flights. We regret the inconvenience caused to our guests, as we make all effort to minimise the disruptions.”
The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a cyclone alert for Saurashtra and Kutch coasts. It has intensified into an “extremely severe cyclonic storm” and is likely to make landfall between the Kutch district of Gujarat and Karachi in Pakistan on June 15.