Cyclone Remal: Some passengers demanded hotel costs and food allowance from airline (Representational)
IndiGo airlines has rescheduled and cancelled some flights due to Cyclone Remal and issued NOTAM in Kolkata. A Notice to Air Missions (NOTAM) is a message sent by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to pilots to alert them of potential hazards that could affect their flight.
The storm, expected to bring maximum sustained wind speeds of 110-120 kmph with gusts up to 135 kmph, is likely to make landfall around 11 pm on Sunday near Khepupara in Bangladesh and Sagar Islands in West Bengal.
In a statement, the airlines said, "IndiGo has rescheduled and cancelled some flights due to Cyclone REMAL and the NOTAM issued in Kolkata. Passengers have been informed of all changes in advance and being provided real-time updates on social platforms".
"Mitigation measures have been put in place to avoid inconvenience caused to passengers due to the cyclone," it added.
According to the Kolkata Airport Authority, a total of 394 flights that were scheduled for arrival or departure including domestic and international have been suspended from Sunday noon to Monday 9 am. This includes 170 domestic tentative departures and 26 international tentative arrivals, officials said.
Passengers complained that the airlines did not inform them about the cancellation of their flights through email or registered phone number. Some of them demanded hotel costs and food allowance from the airline.
Arnab Tarafdar, one of the relatives of the passenger, who had come to the airport to drop off her grandmother, Meera Nandi complained that her grandmother, who is an aged woman, was asked to wait and then informed about the cancellation of her flight.
"My grandmother (Meera Nandi) was asked to wait. After some time she was called to the counter and said that the flight was overbooked and she would not get a seat. She was asked to come tomorrow because all flights later in the day have been cancelled owing to the cyclone. She is an aged woman. Now she has to go back and come again tomorrow," Arnab Tarafdar said speaking to ANI.
Meanwhile the Airport Authority of India, Agartala, announced that all flights arriving from Kolkata to Agartala are cancelled until 9 am on May 27. Passengers are being notified by the respective airlines, while flights from Delhi, Bangalore, and Guwahati are currently operating as scheduled, with further updates expected.
Cyclone Remal is forecasted to significantly impact the coastal region of West Bengal, including the city of Kolkata.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)