New Delhi:
With thick clouds of ash grounding all flights across Europe, there has been a a direct impact on flights from India to destinations there. Hundreds of passengers have been stranded at the Delhi airport.
Even Prime Minister Manmohan Singh travelled via Johannasburg and not Frankfurt to avoid the cloud.
Meanwhile, Air India has suspended all westbound flights to Europe, USA and Canada on April 18 and 19, 2010.
The Flights cancelled for April 18, 2010 are:
AI 143/142 -- Delhi - Paris - Delhi
AI 111/112 -- Delhi - London - Delhi
AI 131/130 -- Mumbai - London - Mumbai
AI 127/126 -- Mumbai - Frankfurt - Chicago - Frankfurt - Mumbai
AI 141/140 -- Mumbai - New York - Mumbai
AI 101/102 -- Delhi - New York - Washington - New York - Delhi
AI 121/120 -- Delhi - Frankfurt - Delhi
AI 187/188 -- Delhi - London - Toronto - London - Delhi
AI 191/144 -- Ahmedabad - Frankfurt - Newark - Frankfurt - Ahmedabad
The Flights cancelled for April 19, 2010 are:
AI 111/112 -- Delhi - London - Delhi
AI 131/130 -- Mumbai - London - Mumbai
AI 127/126 -- Mumbai - Frankfurt - Chicago - Frankfurt - Mumbai
AI 141/140 -- Mumbai - New York - Mumbai
AI 101/102 -- Delhi - New York - Washington - New York - Delhi
AI 121/120 -- Delhi - Frankfurt - Delhi
AI 187/188 -- Amritsar - London - Toronto - London - Amritsar
AI 191/144 -- Ahmedabad - Frankfurt - Newark - Frankfurt - Ahmedabad
As already announced, the rescheduled flights of April 16, 2010 - AI 131 on Mumbai - London Sector, AI 127 on Mumbai - Frankfurt - Chicago sector, AI 101 on Delhi - New York - Washington sector, AI 121 on Delhi - Frankfurt sector, AI 187 on Delhi - London - Toronto sector will be operated on delayed basis as and when the European airspace opens up.
Passengers of the cancelled flights are given the choice of taking flights at a later date without any penalty or full refund on cancellation, if desired.
Passengers are advised to contact Air India before proceeding to the Airport. The call centre numbers from India are: 1800 22 77 22, 0124 2877 777, 022 2758 0777.
However, a press release from Jet Airways said that the Airline has been given permission to fly through Athens in Greece as an alternate temporary transit point through Europe to Newark and Toronto.
Jet Airways plans to operate daily flights to the United States and Canada from Mumbai and Delhi respectively, using Athens as its technical and maintenance hub until London Heathrow and Brussels airports re-open, the statement said.