CHENNAI: Air India strike has come as a blow to international travellers as many have got stranded for a day or two at foreign destinations.
Holidayers who had return tickets in Air India ran into trouble after flights got cancelled at the last minute from US, UK and Europe after pilots went on strike. Pilots of erstwhile Air India are on strike over training to fly Boeing Dreamliners which the airline is going to get very soon. The deadlock between the management and the pilots continue in spite of appeals from ministry of civil aviation.
"Many passengers who are on holiday were caught unawares and had to reschedule their return bookings due to cancellations. Fresh one way return tickets are very expensive and seats are also scarce because flights are full due to holiday travel," said D Sudhakara Reddy, national president, Air Passenger Association of India (APAI).
International air fares have shot up by nearly 10 per cent following cancellation of Air India services which has reduced capacity in many sectors.
The national carrier has inter-line agreements with quite a few foreign carriers so that its passengers can be accommodated from London, Frankfurt, New York, Chicago and other major destinations. "Passengers will be able to travel back free if Air India endorses the ticket. But, it depends on availability of seats also. Air India should not accept fresh bookings from India, but they are doing it though it is uncertain whether they will be able to operate the schedules," he added.
Air India put in place a contingency schedule to minimize inconvenience to passengers who are abroad in the last four days. Daily return services were flown on Delhi-Paris-New York, Delhi-Frankfurt-Chicago and Delhi-London sectors and on Mumbai-Bangkok, Delhi-Bangkok, and Mumbai-Dubai-Mumbai-Goa sectors and also on Middle East routes. A few existing schedules were combined to operate these special services, said an Air India spokesperson.
"We were able to handle all needs of the passengers using these flights. More flights may be operated if there is a need," said an official.
Delhi and Mumbai are Air India's gateway for international operations. Travellers booked from Chennai and other cities of the state are flown domestic to these metro and are changed over to long haul flights to US, UK and Europe.
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