FLIGHT FIASCO: IndiGo operational crisis hits J&K hard

Srinagar, Dec 5: The operational disruptions, which have affected private airline IndiGo and led to hundreds of flight cancellations across the country over the past week, adversely impacted flight operations at the Srinagar and Jammu airports on Friday.

At the onset of winter, when people in large numbers travel out of Kashmir to warmer places, and air passenger influx increases due to the Umrah pilgrimage, 17 IndiGo flights were cancelled at the Srinagar International Airport on Friday.

Jammu Airport, which also witnesses a huge rush of pilgrims travelling to Vaishno Devi, and an overall traveller footfall, saw 11 flight cancellations, said an official.

Speaking with Greater Kashmir, Director Srinagar Airport Javed Anjum said efforts were being made for passenger handling at the airport in view of the flight cancellations.

Anjum said the operational and pilot roster issues, which IndiGo is facing, has put the airline’s flight schedule for the next few days into uncertainty.

“There is no clarity from IndiGo on its schedule for Saturday. Travellers must check the flight status with the airline or airport counters,” Anjum said. “No additional flights have been made operational by other airlines as of now.”

While the IndiGo fiasco began a few days back, its impact on operations at Srinagar and Jammu airports was quite limited till Thursday.

As per Jammu Airport authorities, there were nine arrivals and nine departures on December 4, which saw almost 3000 passenger footfall.

The Srinagar Airport on December 3 saw 31 flight arrivals and as many departures with a total passenger movement of 9990.

However, chaotic scenes were witnessed at the Jammu and Srinagar airports on Friday.

Angry flyers could be seen crowding at both airports.

The local representative of IndiGo did not respond to repeated calls.

However, IndiGo on Friday issued a passenger advisory saying it was apologetic for the inconvenience caused to travellers.

It said Friday saw the highest number of cancellations across the country, crossing 500 flights not taking off.

The IndiGo statement said, “It is doing everything to reboot all its systems and schedules to restart regular operations with the Aviation Ministry and aviation regulator.”

Meanwhile, IndiGo has informed the affected flyers that they will get refunds for their cancellations.

“We will ensure that all refunds for your cancellations will be processed automatically to your original mode of payment,” an IndiGo statement said.