Over 180 flights cancelled at Chennai airport
17/03/2020, SUNITHA SEKAR,CHENNAI
Over 180 flights have been cancelled at Chennai airport this month and there may be a nearly 50% dip in the international passenger traffic.
Airport sources said that nearly 100 flights have been cancelled this week alone. On Monday too, several flights to destinations including Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok were cancelled by several airlines. Sources said, the international air passenger traffic that was around 8,000-9,000 till last week has fallen further.
“Though we are yet to get an exact estimate of the passenger traffic, from the initial estimates, only 4,000-5,000 are travelling now. This may even fall further in the coming days as more and more number of flights are being cancelled,” a source said. In the first 11 days, about 90 flights were cancelled.
While all airlines that cancel don’t necessarily say it is because of COVID-19, sources said, majority of the cancellations were due to the impact of this pandemic.
The screening of passengers has been on and 1,80,062 passengers have been screened at Chennai, Tiruchi, Madurai and Coimbatore till date.
Some of the airlines like Singapore Airlines has been offering fee waiver and flexible rebooking for all customers.
In a statement, Singapore Airlines has said: “Singapore Airlines is waiving all rebooking fees for tickets issued on or before March 15, 2020, for travel up to May 31, 2020, with immediate effect. Customers can cancel their existing flight itineraries, retain the value of their tickets and rebook their travel at a later date, when they are able to firm up their new travel plans.”
17/03/2020, SUNITHA SEKAR,CHENNAI
Over 180 flights have been cancelled at Chennai airport this month and there may be a nearly 50% dip in the international passenger traffic.
Airport sources said that nearly 100 flights have been cancelled this week alone. On Monday too, several flights to destinations including Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok were cancelled by several airlines. Sources said, the international air passenger traffic that was around 8,000-9,000 till last week has fallen further.
“Though we are yet to get an exact estimate of the passenger traffic, from the initial estimates, only 4,000-5,000 are travelling now. This may even fall further in the coming days as more and more number of flights are being cancelled,” a source said. In the first 11 days, about 90 flights were cancelled.
While all airlines that cancel don’t necessarily say it is because of COVID-19, sources said, majority of the cancellations were due to the impact of this pandemic.
The screening of passengers has been on and 1,80,062 passengers have been screened at Chennai, Tiruchi, Madurai and Coimbatore till date.
Some of the airlines like Singapore Airlines has been offering fee waiver and flexible rebooking for all customers.
In a statement, Singapore Airlines has said: “Singapore Airlines is waiving all rebooking fees for tickets issued on or before March 15, 2020, for travel up to May 31, 2020, with immediate effect. Customers can cancel their existing flight itineraries, retain the value of their tickets and rebook their travel at a later date, when they are able to firm up their new travel plans.”
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