Cyclone Fani hits air traffic in eastern India: Have a flight ticket to Bhubaneswar or Kolkata, this is what you can do to rebook or cancel your flight

Airports Authority of India has cancelled all flights to and from Kolkata Airport from 3 pm today (Friday) to 8 am tomorrow (Saturday) in view of the extremely severe Cyclone making landfall on Odisha coast at around 8.30 am. The closure timing was revised from earlier announced 9.30 pm today to 6 pm tomorrow keeping in view the anticipation of inclement weather as the storm makes its way towards the West Bengal coast. Likewise, all flight operations are suspended from the Bhubaneswar airport since 1.00 am on Friday till 12 am Saturday (subject to revision). [caption id=“attachment_4404141” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Reuters[/caption] The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Thursday issued an operational advisory for these two airports as Fani is feared to have a severe effect at these airports and at some other places too. “All airlines and operators are informed that due to approaching severe cyclonic storm Fani flights to/ from (Bhubaneswar and Kolkata) be cancelled (for different time periods as given above) in advance in order to avoid passenger inconvenience and safety of operations. Resumption of flights will be with positive clearance from the respective air traffic control,” says the DGCA advisory. Accordingly, airlines have cancelled flights and waived off fee charged on cancellation and change of flight schedule. For IndiGo travellers  IndiGo said in a statement: “Due to Cyclone Fan, IndiGo flights to or from Bhubaneshwar have been disrupted. Flights later in the evening on Thursday are likely to be affected and all flights operating on Friday stands cancelled. We are accommodating passengers to next available flights at no additional charge, waiving off cancellation fee and refunding full amount. All change /cancellation notification has been informed to passengers in advance. We will continue to review the situation and provide real time updates on our social platforms.” The low-cost carrier, which has around 44 per cent of the domestic passenger market share, advised affected passengers to go to one of its website links “to opt for alternate options or get a refund”. The airlines tweeted out two dedicated portals to assist passengers whose travel plans have been hit. Fliers can check the status of their flights at  www.goindigo.in/flight-status.html. Just key in your destination and arrival airports, your flight number, and the PNR to know the status of your flight. Passengers who are looking to cancel or reschedule their flights need to log in to a portal called Plan B linked here. You can change the time of your flight, or cancel it at no additional costs if, 1) If your flight has been cancelled. 2) If your flight timing has been brought forward by 1 hour or more from the scheduled time of departure. 3) Postponed by 2 hours or more, for travel beyond 48 hours Just enter your Booking Reference number and email ID, or your last name in the given space and hit submit. Follow LIVE updates on Cyclone Fani For GoAir travellers Budget carrier GoAir said, " In view of cyclone Fani, passengers travelling to and from Bhubaneswar, Kolkata and Ranchi might be inconvenienced… flights to-and-from Bhubaneswar have been cancelled for Friday. GoAir is waiving cancellation and change fees for Bhubaneswar, Kolkata and Ranchi flights for travel between Thursday Sunday (May 5). Passengers are allowed to re-book their flights within 7 days of scheduled departure." The airlines has advised its customers to get in touch with the airport ticketing counters, or their 24x7 helpline number: 18602 100 999. For Air India travellers The state carrier too has waived off all sorts of penalties for travellers who are affected by the rescheduling of flights due to Cyclone Fani. “Due to Cyclone Fani all Air India flights to/from Bhubaneswar have been cancelled for 3 May 2019. Applicable penalties of re-issuance, date change, no-show, cancellation and refund charges waived off on all tickets for travel to/from Bhubaneswar from 3rd-5th May 19,” Air India said. The air carrier is regularly tweeting updates about flight schedules and cancellation charges. Alternatively, passengers can track the flight status here: www.airindia.in/FlightTracking.html. For Air Vistara travellers  Vistara airline also issued a travel update on the micro-blogging site. It said as Fani is likely to impact Bhubaneswar and Kolkata on May 2 and May 3, it is waiving “change and cancellation fee” for flights that will depart or arrive from these two cities between 2 May and 5 May. “Fare difference if any, will be applicable for date changes,” the full-service carrier said.

The airline asked passengers to get in touch with its staff at the airport or call its 24x7 call centre at 9289228888 for updated flight status and enquiry about refund and rescheduling. Vistara and GoAir have around four per cent and nine per cent of domestic passenger market share, respectively.