Mumbai rain woes in Bangalore

Mumbai rain woes in Bangalore
Sunday July 1 2007 11:52 IST

BANGALORE: They did it again, this time rains are the reason.

On Saturday, many airlines cancelled or rescheduled flights to rain-hit Mumbai. Consequently, hundreds of unsuspecting passengers were stranded at the Bangalore airport.

Much to the chagrin of passengers, the airlines made their ‘valued passengers’ wait hours in vain without guidance. Several scrambled for cancellation, rescheduling and new bookings.

If it was Indian that had left passengers in the lurch recently after staff struck work, many airlines cancelled their flights this time. It was chaos in the airport for most part of the day.

Several harried passengers poured out their woes to the this website’s newspaper.

Many had checked in and boarded the flight on Saturday only to be told after much waiting that the flights are cancelled.

Jaideep Choughule, a resident of Pune said, ‘‘I was supposed to take the DN 606 Air Deccan flight at 9.55 am to Mumbai. We checked in and boarded the flight but they announced that the flight was cancelled. For nearly four and half hours we are here at the airport. We are given an alternative flight DN 663 to Mumbai at 7 pm. I will wait here till then. But we are not provided with drinks or lunch or snacks.’’

Another passenger of the same flight Neelesh J Shah, a businessman from Surat said, ‘‘It’s better I wait at the airport. Going by auto and coming back will take two hours. We ’ll have to wait unsure of the 7 pm flight.’’

A Kingfisher flight that took off at 10.35 am could not land in Mumbai due to poor visibility and came back. A couple said, ‘‘My daughter was on the flight. The airline has given an alternative flight at 3 pm. We just hope it takes off on time.’’

Many airlines requested passengers to rebook their tickets for Sunday. Passengers understood the airlines’ difficulty, but said they could have made some announcements via media to keep passengers informed.

‘‘Travelling to airport and back to home or hotel is no easy task in Bangalore. It costs money and time,’’ said a senior citizen.

Help came late evening. Flights resumed at 7 pm. Mumbai airport is open, an Airports Authority official said.