12 domestic flights cancelled in Delhi on Sunday to clear Saturday’s backlog.
The fog situation in Delhi, in particular, and north India, in general, improved on Sunday, but air passengers continued to suffer.
Several flights had to be cancelled to clear the backlog created since Saturday, when as many as 70 domestic and international flights were affected and 17 international flights diverted due to low visibility. The visibility on Saturday was less than 50 metres, as against the minimum requirement of 150 metres.
The situation improved on Sunday, yet 12 domestic flights, including that of SpiceJet, Jet and Kingfisher to Amritsar, Leh, Chandigarh, Mumbai, Srinagar and Kolkata, had to be cancelled.
Passengers complained of uncooperative of airlines and lack of communication.
Saurabh Kumar, an IT professional, and wife Ananya had a harrowing time with Kingfisher. They were to board a Banglore-Delhi flight on Saturday evening, but, Saurabh said,
“The flight was delayed by an hour in Banglore. When it reached Delhi, it was denied permission to land and flew to Jaipur, instead.”
The ordeal didn’t end there. In Jaipur, they were made to wait for nearly two hours inside the aircraft before being allowed to alight.
“At 11.30 pm, airline officials said we would have to get our own hotel and we were left to fend for ourselves. It was only today [Sunday] afternoon that the airlines arranged for a taxi to Delhi,” Saurabh, who was on his way back to Delhi from Jaipur, said.
AK Mishra, who had been waiting at Delhi airport since Saturday night, said, “My flight to Bhubaneswar was cancelled and I had to spend the night at the airport. They [airline] refused to arrange for an alternative flight. I finally got my own ticket, but they are now delaying refund.”
The weatherman said foggy conditions would prevail for the next few days.
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