New Delhi/Chennai: Over a thousand flights connecting Chennai were cancelled since yesterday after heavy rain due to Cyclone Michaung forced shut the city airport. IndiGo had to cancel 550 flights across India after the airport closed operations yesterday while Vistara suspended 10 flights from Chennai.
The rain has stopped and Chennai now struggles to drain the floodwaters and assess the damages caused due to the heavy rain.
Chennai airport had shut its runway and grounded all planes yesterday after floodwater entered the airport. It resumed operations this morning. Currently, Visakhapatnam airport is shut as the cyclone has moved towards Andhra Pradesh.
IndiGo resumed its flights from Chennai around noon, but said it cancelled 60 flights today. Vistara too has resumed operations to and from Chennai.
The affected flyers will be offered a waiver on cancellation and rescheduling of flights, IndiGo, which has surpassed the milestone of flying 2,000 daily scheduled flights, had said yesterday. Currently, it has 15 planes parked in Chennai – the ones that were grounded after the airport was shut yesterday. Vistara said it has reached out to the affected flyers and offered alternatives.