With Chennai airport being shut till noon on December 6 domestic airlines are coming forward to help passengers booked to-and-from the city for travel.
Air India has said that it will honour and accept tickets issued by the airline, travel agent or portal for travel to and from Chennai to the nearest airports like Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Mangalore, Thiruvananthapuram, Vishakhapatnam, Kozhikode, Coimbatore, Tiruchirapalli, Madurai, Kochi, Vijayawada and Tirupati till December,15 without any additional charge. ``No cancellation/refund charges will be levied on AI tickets for travel to/from Chennai till December, 15,” the airline said in a statement.
Similarly, Jet Airways has said that its passengers with confirmed tickets to and from Chennai between December 1 and 8, this year will be allowed full refund or complimentary change of booking to alternative dates, depending on seat availability.
IndiGo is to operate additional flight on December 4 to accommodate passengers coming from Chennai on surface transport. In a statement the airline said that it will operate two additional flights on the Bengaluru-Mumbai-Bengaluru and one additional flight each between Delhi and Bengaluru and Bengaluru-Hyderabad-Bengaluru sector.
Meanwhile Air India operated a special flight from Air India from Hyderabad to Arrakonam to bring back 120 passengers from Chennai. The flight also carried 30 Air India personnel on board for logistics, the airline said in a statement. The flight which was initially expected to leave Hyderabad at 3.30 p.m. finally left around 5.30 p.m. as the airline awaited clearances for the special flight to be operated.
Chennai Bureau reports
AirAsia has cancelled all flights to/from Chennai airport as the airport will be closed till 1200 hrs on December 6 due to bad weather condition.
The airline will continue to be in close coordination with related authorities and will keep guests informed of any developments. Affected guests will be notified via their registered email address and SMS of their latest flight status and the options made available to them, says a release from the airline.