Airlines waive cancellation charges for Colombo flights

Airlines waive cancellation charges for Colombo flights

Following terror attacks on Sunday, Air India and IndiGo have waived rescheduling fee too
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BENGALURU:  Expecting a spate of cancellations from fliers who had booked flights to Sri Lanka in the aftermath of the deadly terror attacks on Sunday, two airlines, Air India and IndiGo, have announced a waiver of all cancellation and rescheduling charges on flights to Colombo booked up to April 24. Both have asked passengers to reach the Bandarnaike International Airport (BIA) in Colombo well in advance if they are travelling from Sri Lanka. 

In a statement, Air India, said, “In view of the situation at Colombo, Air India has waived all charges for rescheduling or cancellation of bookings on its flights to/from Colombo for travel till April 24. Passengers are requested to report well in advance to clear security at Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA),” it said.  

IndiGo in a statement said, “We are providing full fee waiver on rescheduling/cancellation for all flights to/from Colombo for travel scheduled till April 24, 2019. Our prayers are with the affected.” An alert issued by IndiGo said new security measures have been taken up at the BIA airport. “Passengers are advised to report four hours early for check-in,” due to heightened security.

Specifying the new arrangements, it listed a few of the measures: No vehicles will be allowed near the terminal, the terminal car park and coach park are closed and all passenger vehicles will be stopped at the outer lane and passengers need to walk up to the entrance. Airlines ruled out any flight cancellations as of Sunday night. SpiceJet said they have direct flights to Colombo only from Chennai and Madurai and both are running as usual. 

Actor Sanjana’s brother has narrow escape
Rahul Shetty, brother of actor Sanjana Galrani, on Sunday shared a selfie video narrating the serial blast in Colombo. He was staying near Colombo’s Shangri-La hotel, when he was alerted about the terror attack by hotel staff when he was sleeping. In the video, Shetty, a resident of Bengaluru, says “I was at the Kingsbury Hotel where one of the blasts happened.I could see a lot of blood in the hotel. People were running, and the floors were covered in smoke...People are now trying to get tickets booked, but all are blocked. All of us who have come for work or vacation are stuck here.”

TOURISM WILL BE HIT
 “Sri Lanka is among the leading summer destinations. Travel is bound to be affected but hopefully the security situation will be addressed quickly and the impact is short-lived, and Sri Lanka again features in the list of popular destinations,” said Balu Ramachandran, head of Air and Distribution at an online 
travel portal Cleartrip. 

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