Representative image of flight.
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Bengaluru: As many as 300 (inbound and outbound) flights were affected at Chennai Airport on Monday as Cyclone Michaung hit Tamil Nadu, official sources at the airport told DH. Of these, only 23 flights were diverted, while all others were cancelled.
As per initial estimates, between 3,000-5,000 passengers were affected due to the suspension of operations.
Chennai Airport has further suspended operations until 9 am on Tuesday, December 5, on account of adverse weather conditions. “We don’t think there will be further suspension of operations. As per the latest weather prediction, the rains must subside by midnight, and operations should begin tomorrow morning,” a senior airport official said.
The extension of the suspension will impact another 50 flights, a source informed. The officials, however, denied any damage to the airport infrastructure, barring flooding in certain areas.
31 flights diverted
The cyclonic weather saw at least 31 flights scheduled to land in Chennai on Monday diverted to the Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) at Bengaluru.
“A total of 31 flights have been diverted to Bengaluru Airport. They include two flights that took off from Bengaluru to Chennai but had to return because of the inclement weather in Chennai,” a source in BIAL told DH.
The diverted schedules included domestic and international flights. The BIAL official said flights operated by IndiGo, Air India, SpiceJet, Etihad, Gulf Air, Flydubai, Lufthansa, and British Airways were diverted to KIA.
At the same time, departures to Chennai, Tirupati, and Vijayawada from Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL) remained suspended till 11.30 pm on Monday.
The BIAL official added that, apart from the suspended flights, the schedule at the airport did not see any “major disruption.”
Passenger advisory
The airport operator released an advisory, requesting passengers to check with their respective airlines for alerts and updates. “Due to adverse weather conditions in the region and the temporary closure for arrival operations at Chennai airport on December 4, 2023, scheduled departures from BLR Airport to Chennai, Tirupati and Vijayawada are experiencing delays or cancellations,” the advisory said.