The strike by the Opposition to protest the recent fuel price hike affected flight operations across the country.
Airport sources said 92 flights were grounded and several flights were combined because of low passenger numbers. “Various flights were combined because of low load factors, as people did not venture out of their houses due to the strike call,” said an executive at the Mumbai airport, who did not want to be named.
Executives at various airports said full-service carriers cancelled flights: Kingfisher cancelled 26 flights, Jet Airways including JetLite, cancelled 30 and Air India cancelled 18 flights.
Among the low-cost carriers, IndiGo cancelled 9 flights, GoAir cancelled 7 and SpiceJet cancelled two flights.
However, a release from Air India said: “Of the total number of 137 domestic flights scheduled to depart from the six metros till 18:00 hours, 136 flights were operated on schedule.”
“In order to help passengers who may have missed their flights or decided to defer their travel, Air India has waived the date change charge for all domestic and international passengers booked on July 5,” the release added.
In a bid to avoid last-minute cancellations of flights and anticipating a low passenger turn-out due to the strike call, most of the airlines had announced in advance that no flights to these destinations would take off.
“Most of the airlines had informed the travellers well in advance about the cancellations and planned to operate their flights with a curtailed schedule.
Normal life was disrupted in several parts of the country during the stir organised by the Opposition, with the greatest impact felt in the National Democratic Alliance and Left-ruled states and also in Maharashtra,” an industry source said.
