Pune: Haze on rescheduled flights keeps flyers on tenterhooks

PUNE: A majority of passengers booked in night flights from October 26 onwards from the city are confused about their rescheduled departure time after the flight operations are suspended between 8pm and 8am from the Lohegaon airport from next Monday because of the runway re-carpeting work.
Travel agents have been getting several queries from passengers booked in night flights or planning to buy tickets.Some passengers claimed that their direct flights were being changed into connecting flights with long layover.

Working professional Ayush Mathur booked a direct IndiGo flight from Pune to Jaipur for November 13, scheduled to take off at 10.50am. It has been changed into a connecting flight.

“The flight will now take off from Pune at 10.10am and go to Delhi, where there is a layover for eight hours. The airline did not even bother to inform me. I shall cancel my ticket and go to Mumbai to catch a flight to Jaipur now,” he told TOI.
Giving example of a friend planning to visit Jaipur for Diwali, Mathur said, “He had booked a direct SpiceJet flight to Jaipur, scheduled at 5am. It has become an afternoon flight with a layover of three-four hours in Ahmedabad.”
There was no reply to e-mails sent to all airlines on Tuesday morning till the time of going to press. Airport director Kuldeep Singh refused to comment on the airlines’ rescheduling issue.
Travel agents fear major problems in the coming days.
“The airlines should have stopped the bookings immediately after knowing about the restrictions. Flight operations were completely shut during the lockdown period and all the necessary arrangements should have been made then. I had done a booking for a group of 60 people from Pune to Goa for January. Now, I shall have to look for other options,” said Nilesh Bhansali, the director of Travel Agents’ Association of Pune (TAAP).
Santosh Gupta, the owner of Shree Vinayak Holidays, said a lot of his international clientele would be affected. “There is no proper communication from the airlines until now. Business could get affected because of lack of clarity,” Gupta said.
A travel agency source shared the revised schedule of SpiceJet, sent to him by the airline. Altogether, eight SpiceJet flights have been listed in the fresh schedule. According to it, a flight from Pune to Delhi (SG8937), which takes off at 6.55am, will depart at 8.05am from October 25. Its flight from Pune to Kolkata (SG275) will take off at 12.20pm. Sources in the travel sector confirmed that the fresh schedule of other airlines was awaited.
“Do the airlines want us to wait to book tickets so that prices soar? Why are they still taking night flight bookings?” asked Rashmi Singh, confused about whether to book a ticket to Bengaluru next month or not.