BENGALURU: Close to 2,000 passengers on 15 Chennai-bound flights, three of them international, were stranded in Bengaluru on Monday as Cyclone Vardah forced airlines to divert aircraft to Kempegowda International Airport (KIA). One more international flight diverted to Bengaluru was an cargo flight from Abu Dhabi to Chennai.
Two of the international passenger flights diverted to Bengaluru were from Singapore and the third was from Kuala Lampur (Malaysia).
With each flight carrying at least 100 passengers, the volume of diversion, sources in KIA said, was far higher than what was witnessed during the floods in Chennai in November last year.
However, the spokesperson of Bangalore International Airport Ltd. maintained that KIA could handle the increased incoming volume. “Other flight schedules remain unaffected. Though the early morning schedules were normal, cancellations and diversions began once the cyclone hit Chennai,” the spokesperson added.
AirAsia, whose Kuala Lampur-Chennai flight was diverted to KIA, said it had been rescheduled to Tuesday. The Chennai-Kuala Lumpur flight, too, was rescheduled. “AirAsia will continue to closely monitor the potential impact of this storm and will update guests in a timely manner on any changes due to the cyclone,” the airline said in a statement.
In addition to diversion of 16 flights, the cyclone resulted in cancellation of 25 flights between Chennai and Bengaluru.
