Cyclone Fani: Flights from Bhubaneswar, Kolkata cancelled

Bhubaneswar/Kolkata, May 2 (IANS) All flights to and from Bhubaneswar have been cancelled for 24 hours starting midnight of May 3 in view of the impending severe cyclonic storm 'Fani' threat over the Bay of Bengal, Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said on Thursday.

The regulatory body for civil aviation issued an advance order to cancel all flights to and from Kolkata between 9.30 p.m. on May 3 and 6 p.m. on May 4 to ensure safety of operations during the cyclone.

"All airlines and operators are informed that due to approaching severe cyclonic storm Fani, flights to and from Biju Patnaik International Airport in Bhubaneswar will be cancelled between 12 a.m. on May 3 to 11.59 p.m. on May 4. Flights from Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport in Kolkata will be cancelled between 9.30 p.m. on May 3 to 6 p.m. on May 4," the DGCA said in a tweet.

"Resumption of the flight will be with positive clearance from respective air traffic control," it added.

Airlines such as Air India and GoAir waived-off cancellations and change charges for flights to and from Bhubaneswar.

"In view of cyclone 'Fani', passengers travelling to and from Bhubaneswar, Kolkata and Ranchi might be inconvenienced. GoAir is waiving cancellation and change fees for Bhubaneswar, Kolkata and Ranchi flights for travel between May 2, 2019 to May 5, 2019," GoAir said in a statement.

"Passengers are allowed to re-book their flights within 7 days of scheduled departure."

Similarly, Air India tweeted: "#FlyAI : Due to #CycloneFani all #AirIndia flights to/from #Bhubaneswar havebeen #cancelled for tomorrow (May3 2019).Applicable penalties of re-issuance,datechange,no-show, cancellation & refund charges waived off on all tickets fortravel to/from #Bhubaneswar frm 3rd-5th May 19'." (sic)