Passengers queue up from night at airport as flights get cancelled
Mumbai:
On the first day of resumption of domestic flight operations from Mumbai amid lockdown due to coronavirus, passengers remained stranded at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) in Mumbai as flights were getting cancelled.
Maharashtra government was reluctant to allow resumption of domestic flights from Mumbai as the state has witnessed explosion of COVID-19 cases. Later on after lot of negotiations the state government agreed with the central government to operate only 50 flights, of which includes 25 flights will fly from Mumbai and remaining 25 flights will land at Mumbai airport. Some passengers were seen not following the norms of social distancing at the airport.
The passengers complained about some flights getting cancelled without prior notice. The Pugalias were to take their flight to Hyderabad in the afternoon along with their recently born baby. Although the infant’s family reached at CSMIA terminal 2 and waited for hours but the airline, Air India cancelled the flight to Hyderabad without any prior intimation to the passengers.
Gaurav Somani uncle of the infant remarked, “we had reached at 11 AM to take a flight for Hyderabad considering the tense situation around. We took all precautions while carrying the baby girl Ditya who was born on April 20. After waiting for more than 3 hours the airline announced the flight was being canceled. It is so difficult to reach at airport during lockdown. We were at 2.10 from terminal 2 of CSMIA and we came back to our home in Ghatkopar.”
“I intentionally booked tickets with Air India for sister Chanchal, her husband Rahul and the newly born baby girl Ditya. This was going to be first journey of the infant and the airline has record of its passengers they should at least inform when we have an infant as a passenger,” added Gaurav.
Likewise on the first of domestic air travel several passengers faced trouble due to mismanagement by the airport authorities. Several passengers had early morning flights and they had queued up to board in from night only to realize that the flights are cancelled for Delhi also.
