Lucknow, Dec 5 (PTI) Passengers were left stranded for hours at the Chaudhary Charan Singh International Airport here as major flight disruptions were witnessed for the second consecutive day on Friday, airport officials said.
Similar chaos was seen on Thursday, when several flights were also called off, leading to long queues and confusion at check-in counters.
On Friday, flights to Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Kolkata, Pune and Hyderabad were among those cancelled.
“I reached the airport for my flight to Kolkata and was shocked to learn that it had been cancelled. No alternative arrangement was offered,” said Anand Vasant, a passenger.
Sunil D Shaligram said his son was stranded for more than 14 hours after a Pune-bound flight was called off. “Despite repeated requests, we received no assistance,” he added.
Padma Pande, grandmother of Parth, a student pursuing engineering in Guwahati said her grandson was stuck in the north eastern city.
“His semester exams were over and he had a confirmed ticket for Lucknow for this evening. This last-minute cancellation means that one is stranded as all trains too are running full and indirect flights of other operators, taking advantage of the Indigo crisis, are charging a fortune,” she said.
S Arora, mother of a computer science student in Guwahati, was also seen arguing with Indigo staff at the Lucknow airport.
“We had booked a ticket for Wednesday’s Indigo flight. We heard about the airline issue but mistakenly believed that the flight from Guwahati was not affected,” she told PTI.
She said many students from IIT and IIIT studying in Guwahati are now stranded in the north eastern city as there were no other direct Guwahati-Lucknow flights available.
“Its quite strange that no Indigo staff had a clue to what caused the cancellation. Additionally, Indigo cancelled confirmed tickets without offering alternative travel plans. Given the distance and problems in travel they should have known better to factor in problems their decision would cause to people,” she added.
Rakesh Kapoor, travelling to Delhi with his family, said he had to wait for over an hour at the counter before getting any clarity. “We are getting so many calls, inquiries from people but we are helpless.” “We know such cancellations have caused immense problems to masseses but are hopeful of the situation easing out in the next few days,” an airline staff at Lucknow airport said.
Airport authorities cited operational and technical reasons for the cancellations and said staff were working with airlines to rebook passengers and manage the crowds.
“We are coordinating with airlines to minimise inconvenience, but passengers are advised to check flight status before arriving at the airport,” an official told PTI. PTI CDN OZ OZ OZ
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