Day 2: Cancellations continue, flyers fume

Day 2: Cancellations continue, flyers fume

Domestic Operations Resume In AP

New Delhi:27.05.2020

Airports across the country handled 325 departures and 283 arrivals with 41,673 passengers till 5 pm on Tuesday even as flight cancellations continued with passengers facing difficulties.

Moreover, domestic operations resumed in Andhra Pradesh on Tuesday, a day after the restart of air travel across India. West Bengal was the only state where no domestic services took place.

As major airports like Mumbai, Chennai and Hyderabad have a severe cap on the number of fights they can handle, cancellations continued on Tuesday.

Just like Monday, a section of passengers reached their airports on Tuesday only to be informed that their flights have been cancelled. Many people vented their ire on social media.

"Smooth operations of domestic civil aviation operation. Our airports have handled 325 departures & 283 arrivals with 41,673 passengers till 5pm on 26 May 2020, the second day after recommencement of domestic flight," civil aviation minister Hardeep Singh Puri said on Tuesday. "Final report for the day will be prepared after details come in at midnight," he added.

Chennai airport was scheduled to handle only 20 arrivals and departures each on Tuesday, said senior government officials, even though Puri on Sunday night said that it could handle up to 25 arrivals per day and has no limit on the number of departures.

Even in Andhra Pradesh, where domestic services resumed on Tuesday, Vijayawada and Vizag airports were scheduled to handle just eight flights each during the day, officials said.

On Sunday night, the central government had said these two airports can handle up to 20% of the pre-lockdown flights from Tuesday onwards.

The Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi, which is India's largest, was scheduled to handle around 277 flights on Tuesday, the officials said, adding that around 25 flights were cancelled during the day. On May 23, the government officials had said they expected Delhi airport to handle around 380 flights per day from May 25 onwards.

Mumbai airport, India's second busiest airport, handled just 41flights on Tuesday. On Monday, it had handled 47 flights.On Sunday night, the central government had clarified that Mumbai would handle a maximum of 50 flights per day from Monday. AGENCIES

Passengers arriving from New Delhi check out from the airport in Bhubaneswar on Tuesday