Airlines waive cancellation fee for Mumbai flights as record rainfall lashes city

NEW DELHI: In the wake of record rainfall in Mumbai, airlines on Tuesday started offering waiver on cancellation, rescheduling charges for flights to and from Mumbai. According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the city witnessed the highest rainfall in 14 years -- 375.2 mm (14.8 inches) -- since the July 26, 2005, deluge.





Low-cost carrier SpiceJet has announced complete waiver on cancellation and date change fees till July 3. The airline in a tweet stated, "In view of heavy rains, SpiceJet is offering a full waiver on cancellation and date change charges for travel to and from Mumbai for 2nd and 3rd July’19."

It added that "fare difference, if any, will be applicable for change in travel date" and requested passengers to keep a check on their flight status.

The airline is also offering 'Monsoon Sale' with domestic air tickets starting at Rs 888 and international fares starting at Rs 3,499 on select routes. The sale ends on July 6.

Similarly, GoAir is offering "rescheduling/cancellation fee waiver to passengers travelling to/from Mumbai till July 3, 2019."

IndiGo has announced "change/cancellation fee waiver to passengers travelling to/from #Mumbai till July 3, 2019." Passengers can also "opt for alternate options or refund," the airline added.

To check flight status, passengers can visit IndiGo's website or "send an SMS ST <flight no.><flight date> as DDMM, e.g. for flight 6E-333 for July 02, send ST 333 0207 to 566772."

National carrier Air India, too, has offered a waiver on "rescheduling/no-show/cancellation charges" of bookings on flights to and from Mumbai. Currently, the offer is valid for scheduled departures from 2345hrs (11:45 pm) of July 1 till midnight of July 2, unless the carrier wants to extend it further.

The airline has also temporarily closed its "frequent flyer member service center."

'Flight services at Mumbai airport's main runway may be closed till Thursday'

After a SpiceJet flight from Jaipur skidded and overshot the main runway at Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport due to heavy rains, flight services at the airport could remain affected till Thursday.

Heavy rains in the city have already disrupted operations at the airport, with at least 52 flights being cancelled and 55 flights being diverted on Tuesday.



For now, the "secondary runway is in use. Our team is trying their best to bring the main runway back into operation and this may take up to 48 hours," airport operator MIAL (Mumbai International Airport Limited) said.

Mumbai airport has two runways and the second one can handle only up to 35 aircraft movements per hour while the main runway can handle 48 plane movements every hour, MIAL added.