Cyclone Fani: Some UAE flights to India cancelled
Dubai: Passengers from the UAE have been affected by airport closures in India after cyclone Fani hit the east coast of India on Friday.
UAE airlines Emirates and Etihad have confirmed the cancellations of flights to and from Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport in Kolkata in West Bengal on Friday.
An Emirates spokesperson confirmed the cancellation of flights EK572 and EK573 to and from Kolkata on May 3.
The airline has offered a change of booking or refund without charge.
“Customers who have booked tickets prior to May 3rd have the option to change their booking up to 7 days of the travel date and/or request for a refund without any charges.
“Affected customers are requested to contact their booking agent or Emirates reservations to rebook their flights or make alternative travel arrangements.”
The airline has also advised customers to make sure their contact details are updated on the Manage Your booking section of its website to receive the latest notifications.
It added that it continues to monitor the situation closely and will update customers as the situation develops.
Abu Dhabi’s Etihad Airways confirmed the cancellation of EY 256 from Abu Dhabi to Kolkata and EY 255 from Kolkata to Abu Dhabi.
“The service will resume tomorrow. All the passengers have been rebooked for tomorrow. The flight will be upgraded from A320 to A332 to accommodate them,” the duty officer told Gulf News.
No airline is operating direct flights from the UAE to Biju Patnaik International Airport in Bhubaneswar in Odisha, another airport that was closed due to the monster cyclone that has claimed two lives and caused massive destruction in the state.
However, passengers from here who fly to other Indian cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Hyderabad to take domestic flights to Bhubaneswar have also been affected due to the airport closure, said Priyadarshee Panigrahi from the expat group Global Odias for Odisha’s Development.
“Though there is no direct service, Air India operates Dubai-Bhubaneswar sector via Delhi. The Delhi flight connects to Bhubaneswar. Air India issues tickets and boarding pass to Bhubaneswar from Dubai. Daily there are people flying from here to Bhubaneswar. Also, the afternoon flights from Bhubaneswar to Delhi connect to Muscat. So people taking that route to come to the UAE are also affected,” he said.
“We are in constant touch with our loved ones. But the actions of the state government have been reassuring. We are impressed by the operations so far,” he said.
