Heavy rain in Andamans disrupts Port Blair flights; delays likely till Tuesday

CHENNAI: Fog in Bengaluru, air traffic congestion in Delhi and a cyclone — which weakened to a deep depression but is causing heavy rain over

Andaman and Nicobar Islands

— triggered flight delays at the Chennai airport on Sunday.


Morning flights to and from Bengaluru were delayed with arrivals suffering a delay of more than an hour. Besides this, two flights were diverted to Chennai from the Karnataka capital. Two

Port Blair

flights were also delayed while the rest departed and arrived on time as the cyclone had weakened. Airlines, including IndiGo and Vistara, have warned of cancellations and delays till Tuesday due to heavy rain in Port Blair.

The airlines have also informed passengers that flights could be changed without additional fee. Change or cancellation fee has been waived for flights to Port Blair.

Vistara in its advisory said, “Flights to Port Blair from January 5 to January 8 may be impacted due to cyclone Pubak. We will waive change and cancel fees for customers who request it. Only fare difference, if any, will be applicable for date changes.”

Flights to Port Blair are already expensive due to high demand and also because rough weather often forces airlines to delay, cancel or sometimes return pushing up the operational cost. There are seven direct flights from Chennai to Port Blair on Saturdays and eight on Sundays.

“The airlines are monitoring weather alerts and will delay flights if needed,” an airport official said.

With more takers for short vacations, Port Blair has grown popular among young travellers. Direct flights from Chennai to Port Blair were soldout and fare for flights that go via Kolkata and New Delhi ranges from 14,000 to 50,000.

Tickets cost between 8,200 to 12,000 for travel this week and travellers, who have booked in advance, may have to shell out an extra 4,000 to 5,000 to reschedule their trips.