CHENNAI: It was a nightmare for 100 passengers who were stranded at the airport as nearly 30 aircraft were diverted by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) to various airports as Cyclone Vardah struck on Monday.
With the only hope that the calamity will end soon, the passengers, most of them from far off places, found refuge in the airport as heavy wind pounded the city.
For Melvin Fernandez, a businessman from Thane in Maharashtra, who was to board the evening Spicejet flight to Mumbai, it was a never ending ordeal. “We visited Velankanni. I was to board the Spicejet flight at 9pm. Since nothing was available, we had to spend the night at the airport,” he said.
“It was too cold outside. There were two dormitories. One was wet and could not be used. The other was crowded. It was also too cold in the airport as the glass was broken. Luckily, I had warm clothing for my children,” said Valencia, a dentist from Mumbai. “We had no other alernative but to sleep on the floor. We have a ticket to Mumbai tomorrow,” she said wanting to forget the ordeal as her daughter kept an eye on the luggage.
Sanju Shubra, who was travelling to Kolkata, too had to spend another night at the airport after her GoAir flight was cancelled. “The flight was scheduled to depart at 11am on Monday,” said Sanju who had arrived in Chennai by an Indigo flight at 7.30am to catch the connecting flight.
Interestingly, Sanju struggled to get inside the airport where her luggage was kept after she went out to buy breakfast. “They are refusing to let me in."
Staff of GoAir said they will get me ticket only on Wednesday morning. Could you help,” pleaded Sanju, who was later allowed inside by Central Industrial Security Force personnel after getting her ticket stamped by the airline official.
The departure was too crowded. Many people were waiting to get their boarding passes. At the Indigo Airlines counter, the staff refused to make new bookings. “No tickets available. We are full,” said an Indigo official to the crowd which was trying to book fresh tickets.
A GoAir official said they were making arrangements for those who could not make it on Monday. Airports Authority of India officials told Express that they made arrangements for food and allowed passengers to use the terminal for the night.