Cyclone Fani disrupts UAE-India flights

Emirates confirmed the cancellation of flights EK572 and EK573 to and from Kolkata yesterday. The airline has offered a change of booking or refund without charge. “Customers who have booked tickets prior to May 3rd have the option to change their booking up to seven days of the travel date and/or request for a refund without any charges,” a spokesperson said.

The airline has also advised customers to make sure their contact details are updated on the Manage Your Booking section of its website to receive the latest notifications.

Etihad Airways confirmed the cancellation of EY256 from Abu Dhabi to Kolkata and EY255 from Kolkata to Abu Dhabi. “The service will resume tomorrow. All the passengers have been rebooked for tomorrow. The flight will be upgraded from A320 to A332 to accommodate them,” the duty officer told Gulf News.

No airline operates direct flights from the UAE to Bhubaneswar in Odisha. However, passengers from the UAE who fly to other Indian cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Hyderabad to take domestic flights to Bhubaneswar have also been affected, said Priyadarshee Panigrahi from Global Odias for Odisha’s Development. “Air India operates Dubai-Bhubaneswar sector via Delhi. Daily there are people flying from here to Bhubaneswar. Also, afternoon flights from Bhubaneswar to Delhi connect to Muscat,” he said.