While most passengers preferred not to fly, those who made it to Mumbai were left stranded.
The Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport wore a deserted look on Monday. Out of the 700 flights that fly in and out of Mumbai, 89 were cancelled. While most passengers preferred not to fly, those who made it to Mumbai were left stranded.
“Due to fewer passengers, domestic airlines cancelled 42 arrivals and 47 departures,” said spokesperson for Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL). Only one international flight of Air India, Mumbai-Delhi-Hong Kong, was cancelled.
MIAL arranged for 20 buses from Santa Cruz and six from Sahar terminal to ferry passengers. “Four private coaches were made available from the domestic terminal to drop passengers to Andheri and Vile Parle station,” the spokesperson said.
As pre-paid cabs and autorickshaws refused to ply, passengers arriving in the city were practically stranded at the airport. Marion de Guerry, 21, a student from France, waited for over three hours for her friend to pick her up. Guerry was in Delhi and arrived in Mumbai by an Air India flight at noon.
“I am on vacation. I decided to come here and help a friend’s sister who works with differently-abled children. I didn’t know about the strike,” she said.
Similarly, Balaji Shari, 25, and his two colleagues, G Nanesh, 25, and Sreekar P, 25, arrived from Hyderabad at 10am and had been lounging at a coffee shop outside terminal 1A for over three hours. “We knew about the bandh but did not know that it would be so effective. We assumed we would at least get a taxi,” said Shari, adding, that their company was sending a car to pick them up.
However, Edmund T, 30, and Sunil Kumar, 45, were not that lucky. The duo arrived from Dubai by a Kingfisher flight at 3.30am on Monday and was to catch a connecting flight to Thiruvananthapuram at 10.30am.
“The airline told us that the flight had been cancelled and asked us to book for the next day. The cancellation charge is Rs1,000 per ticket,” said Kumar. “Since we have nowhere to go, we will sit here till tomorrow.”
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}