Bhubaneswar: Observing the extremely severe cyclonic storm Fani to hit the capital city major airways operators here have cancelled their flights from the Biju Patnaik International Airport (BPIA) from Friday.
IndiGo, Air Asia, Air India, GoAir and Vistara are major flight operators here at the BPIA. While IndiGo has revealed that all its flights flying in and out of Bhubaneswar May 3 has been cancelled. All flights after the departure of last flight at 22:20 hours, May 2, have been cancelled as well. IndiGo runs 24 flights from here. However, all IndiGo flights, scheduled for departure Thursday, were operating.
The airline has waived off cancellation and rescheduling charges between May 2 and May 5. Moreover, passengers travelling to and from Bhubaneswar and Kolkata can opt for change in routes in light of the impending storm.
Meanwhile, Air Asia has cancelled its international flight from Bhubaneswar-Bangkok-Bhubaneswar that arrives at 11:45 am May 3 and departs at midnight. The operator has also cancelled the rest of the domestic flights operating from BPIA to Kolkata, Chennai and Delhi citing bad weather.
Furthermore, GoAir that had four flights with two in arrivals and two in departures scheduled for May 3, also stand cancelled. Vistara has also declared all of its flights non-operational May 3. Following suit the public player in Air India has also cancelled all its flights for May 3.
In an official travel update released by Vistara, the airline has waived off flight change and cancellation fees for Bhubaneswar and Kolkata bound flights between the same dates, in light of the expected cyclone. However, difference on the base fare will be applicable on changing the date of travel.
Meanwhile, Union Aviation Minister Suresh Prabhu tweeted that the Airports Authority of India (AAI) has issued an official alert to all coastal airports to take precautions. AAI has also instructed coastal airports to impose Standard Operating Procedure (SOPs) immediately and monitor the situation at the highest level.