The announcement came hours after TOI had reported on Friday that chief minister Mamata Banerjee had indicated her “unhappiness” on Thursday over flight operations to and from the city airport during lockdown and that the Bengal government was likely to urge the civil aviation ministry to restrict flights on Saturday (July 25) and Wednesday (July 29), the next scheduled total lockdown days.
“There will be no movement of flights on Saturday and next Wednesday and all the upcoming lockdown days in the next few weeks. The airport, however, will not be shut and there will be no bar on movement of cargos and emergency flights,” said Kaushik Bhattacharjee, the Kolkata airport director.
After the announcement, airline officials began charting passengers whose flight tickets were cancelled and said they were making arrangements to send text message and mailed notifications informing them about the cancellations.
“We are awaiting for the final order and will start sending messages by late afternoon. Passengers can seek a rescheduled journey or a refund,” said a senior official of the airline. “
The official, however, said the decision to suspend flight movement has caught them in a tricky situation as they are yet to know the upcoming lockdown days in the state other than the two announced days. “Tickets for next week and the weeks after have already been sold. If we know the lockdown days in advance, we can cancel flights on those days in advance, which can help passengers plan their journey accordingly,” said the official.
The airport was supposed to handle around 50 flights on Saturday and around 42 odd flights next Wednesday.
