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Snowfall in Europe grounds Indians’ holiday plans abroad

While Air India (AI) cancelled its London flight, Jet Airways operated additional flights to clear the passenger backlog that has been building up since last Friday.

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Snowfall in Europe grounds Indians’ holiday plans abroad
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Heavy snowfall in Europe has grounded holiday plans of fliers in India as airlines struggled to operate flights on time on Monday.

While Air India (AI) cancelled its London flight, Jet Airways operated additional flights to clear the passenger backlog that has been building up since last Friday.

Sheila Punjwani (name changed), an interior decorator from Mumbai, and her husband left on December 16 for a 10-day trip to Europe.

“The next day, she was to take a flight from London to Munich. But it started snowing there and she had to abandon her plans,” said Rajesh Rateria, owner of Cirrus Travels, Fort.

Now the Punjwanis are struggling back to get back to Mumbai.  “They were to come back to India on January 2 but have decided not to go ahead,” he said.

Thousands of fliers are either stuck in the UK and Europe or are cancelling their holiday plans abroad. “Many of our customers are cancelling their holiday plans now and want to celebrate New Year in India,” said another travel agent from Dadar.

Since Saturday, the snow in Europe and the UK has disrupted flights at London, Frankfurt, Brussels, Amsterdam, etc. As only one of the two runways at Heathrow airport, London, is operational, and only few parking bays are available, airlines chose either to cancel flights or have limited flights. Some like Jet decided to operate additional flights.

“The flights will be operated subject to necessary clearances from the London Heathrow Airport authorities,” said a statement from Air India. Kingfisher Airlines (KFA) had to cancel its London-Delhi flight, as the aircraft was stuck in Brussels.

But Jet Airways managed to operate its flights to and from London to Mumbai and Delhi as per schedule. The airline operated an additional flight from Brussels to London.

“The flight will leave for Delhi at 1400 hrs from London and arrive in Delhi at 0425 hrs on December 21,” said a spokesperson. The airline also said it will operate an additional flight from Mumbai to London on December 21.

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