At Mumbai airport, 270 flights delayed, 230 cancelled; Jet Airways, SpiceJet send alerts; airfare jump adds to bitter experience

Travelling from Mumbai airport has become very difficult from Thursday onward, because the Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Terminus (CSIA) is undergoing repairs and this will continue for nearly 2 months. While the airport will be shut for a specific period of time on alternate days of the week, the impact is already visible in just one day. On Friday, itself 270 flights were delayed and the number is expected to rise further. Meanwhile, the repair process started from Tuesday and it has been revealed that there will be about 230 other flights likely to be cancelled. Private carriers like Jet Airways and SpiceJet have warned their customers about the impact on flights and have asked them to be cautious about booking tickets. One of the major issues now are airfares, as during this period, they are expected to spike by massive amounts. 

What has happened is that, from February 07, 2019, Mumbai airport will be shut from 1100 hours  to 1700 hours for some major repairs. This process will continue up till March 2019. However, the airport will not be shut every day, in fact, the runway will be shut for six hours only and that too every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. 

According to PTI report, 230 flights were cancelled on Thursday due to closure of runways. The shorter period of runway availability on Thursday caused many flights to be delayed on Friday too. If you go on CSIA official website and track down the delayed flights for today, there are some 156 flights delayed in terms of arrivals and about 114 departures have been affected similarly. What was noteworthy is that, the flights were massively delayed from 12:00 am till 12:00 pm in both arrivals and departures. The airlines that were hit were Jet Airways, Vistara, Indigo, SpiceJet and Indigo.

To warn about the inconvenience, Jet Airways and SpiceJet, via their Twitter accounts, have asked passengers to book travel before or after the shutdown of runways. 

Jet Airways said, “Due to planned maintenance activities, the runway at Mumbai airport will be closed from Feb 7, 2019 until Mar 30, 2019 on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays from 1100 hrs to 1700 hrs. Pls click here to view rescheduled & cancelled flights:http://bitly.com/FltUpd_T.”

#9Wupdate: Due to planned maintenance activities, the runway at Mumbai airport will be closed from Feb 7, 2019 until Mar 30, 2019 on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays from 1100 hrs to 1700 hrs. Pls click here to view rescheduled & cancelled flights: https://t.co/xpbrtaonTR pic.twitter.com/xIFy5UpCV2

— Jet Airways (@jetairways) January 7, 2019

At JetAirways, guests who are planning to travel, via Mumbai, are advised to allow for sufficient time while making bookings for onward travel.The airline has revised flight schedules for some flights arriving and departing from Mumbai. Jet Airways has already cancelled few flights between February 07 to March 2019. 

Meanwhile, SpiceJet said, “The runway at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport, Mumbai will be closed from 1100 hrs to 1700 hrs on Tuesdays, Thursdays & Saturdays from February 7 to March 30, 2019, except March 21. Passengers are requested to check flight schedule to avoid any inconvenience.”

The runway at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport, Mumbai will be closed from 1100 hrs to 1700 hrs on Tuesdays, Thursdays & Saturdays from February 7 to March 30, 2019, except March 21. Passengers are requested to check flight schedule to avoid any inconvenience. pic.twitter.com/t4QUjxG0HE

— SpiceJet (@flyspicejet) February 7, 2019

Ixigo's co-founder and CEO Aloke Bajpai told PTI, airfares have seen an average spike of 23 per cent on key routes to and from Mumbai.

Bajpai reportedly added, Ahmedabad-Mumbai has seen a substantial hike in airfares of over 80 per cent as compared to last week. Last minute non-stop flights and stop over flights have been impacted the most, recording a growth of over 200 per cent in some cases. Further, around 33 per cent of all flights from Mumbai airport were delayed today and we expect a further increase in cancellations and delays over the next few days. 

On a daily basis, Mumbai airport manages take off and land of over 1000 flights, and many buzz have claimed that price hike will be witnessed in over 5000 flights. 

It is being advised to passengers from Mumbai airport, that keep a tab on your flights. Always check with airport operators and your airlines. Make sure to pay attention to your announcements, notifications, messages, etc. if you want an hassle free flight journey. Also, avoid booking tickets between 1100 to 1700 hours of Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays for the repair period.