Cyclone Remal is expected to have a significant impact on the coastal region of West Bengal, including the city of Kolkata. (Photo: Reuters)
IndiGo Airlines has rescheduled and canceled a number of flights due to Cyclone Remal and issued NOTAM in Kolkata. A Notice to Air Missions (NOTAM) is a message sent to pilots by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to warn them of potential hazards that could affect their flight.
The storm, which is expected to pack maximum sustained winds of 110-120 kmph with gusts up to 135 kmph, is likely to make landfall near Khepupara in Bangladesh and Sagar Islands in West Bengal around 11 pm on Sunday.
In a statement, the airlines said, “IndiGo has rescheduled and canceled a number of flights due to Cyclone REMAL and NOTAM issued in Kolkata. Passengers have been informed in advance of all changes and are receiving real-time updates on social platforms.”
“Mitigation measures have been taken to avoid inconvenience to passengers due to the cyclone,” it added.
According to the Kolkata Airport Authority, a total of 394 flights scheduled for arrival or departure, including domestic and international flights, have been suspended from Sunday afternoon to 9 am on Monday. This includes 170 domestic provisional departures and 26 international provisional arrivals, officials said.
Passengers complained that the airlines did not inform them of the cancellation of their flights via email or registered phone number. Some of them demanded hotel and food allowance from the airline.
Arnab Tarafdar, one of the passenger’s relatives, who had come to the airport to drop her grandmother, Meera Nandi, complained that her grandmother, an elderly woman, was asked to wait and was subsequently informed about the cancellation of her flight.
“My grandmother (Meera Nandi) was asked to wait. After some time she was called to the counter and said that the flight was overbooked and she would not get a seat. She was asked to come tomorrow as all flights are later in the day has been canceled due to the cyclone. She is an elderly woman. Now she has to go back and come again tomorrow,” Arnab Tarafdar told ANI.
Meanwhile, the Airport Authority of India, Agartala has announced that all flights arriving from Kolkata to Agartala have been canceled till 9 am on May 27. Passengers are being informed by the respective airlines, while flights from Delhi, Bangalore and Guwahati are currently running as per schedule. , and further updates are expected.
Cyclone Remal is expected to have a significant impact on the coastal region of West Bengal, including the city of Kolkata.
(Only the headline and image of this report may have been reworked by Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is automatically generated from a syndicated feed.)
First print: May 26, 2024 | 5:44 PM IST