(MENAFN- Khaleej Times)

Despite hundreds of flights being cancelled by Indian airline Indigo, it will have minimal impact on UAE travellers, according to experts. However, some travelers are rethinking their plans based on the current situation.

“None of the international flights of Indigo airline have been impacted,” said Mohammed Safeer, General Manager of Smart Travels.“We had a call with Indigo airline this morning and they have assured us that the international flights will continue as scheduled.”

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His views were echoed by Raheesh Babu, the COO of Musafir.“We have had several passengers flying to India on Indigo flights over the last few days,” he said.“So far, we have not had an instance of any scheduled flight being delayed. All the international flights of Indigo have departed and arrived on time, except on Wednesday when there was a delay of a Dubai-Calicut flight after a pilot reportedly fell ill.”

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Over the last few days, hundreds of Indigo flights ferrying passengers between domestic airports in India have been canceled, with a lion's share of it being attributed to the country Directorate General of Civil Aviation rolling out new Flight Duty Time Limitations.

The new rules mandate that pilots must be given 48 hours a week to rest and capped the number of night landings a pilot can perform in a week at two, as opposed to the previous six. The ruling came after increasing number of complaints from pilots about fatigue.

In a statement issued on Wednesday evening, Indigo attributed the disruptions to a“multitude of unforeseen operational challenges,” including technology issues, adverse weather, and increased aviation congestion. Rethinking plans Annu Joseph, who was planning to fly to the southern Indian state of Kerala for a wedding, is now weighing her options.“The direct flights are very expensive in December,” she said.

“So, my plan was to fly to Bangalore, visit my cousins there and then take a domestic flight to Kerala. However, with the cancellations, I am rethinking what to do. I just have three days off, so I don't have time to waste. Either I will pay that extra amount and book a direct flight to Kerala or I will fly to Bangalore and then take a train. I will wait for a few days and then take a decision.”

Raheesh added that their company has received some complaints about certain domestic flights being delayed in the ongoing issue.“We received news from one couple that their domestic flight from Mumbai to Rajkot was delayed by around four hours,” he said.

“That is the only report of delays that we have had from our passengers. Otherwise, international travellers have been very minimally impacted. Since the domestic travel is relatively uncertain, we are advising our clients to book direct flights rather than connection ones.”

Resolution

Despite the widespread cancellations, the travel experts are confident that the issue will be resolved very quickly.“Indigo are managing the situation very well,” said Praveen Chowdhury from Saffron Travels and Tourism.

“When compared to other Indian airlines, they have been on top of the situation and are very diligently trying to sort it. I don't think the ramifications will be felt beyond the week.”

Raheesh added that Indigo has handled previous such situations very swiftly.“At one point, they had a mass migration of pilots from the airline to others,” he recalled.“Even at the time, they managed everything effectively. So I am confident that they will resolve the situation as soon as possible. It is quite unfortunate that they had to face so many issues during peak travel times.”

According to a press statement by Indigo, they will recalibrate their flights over the next 48 hours to minimise disruptions and stabilise their schedules.

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