Over 41,000 stranded at Delhi and Mumbai airports

[Justin Joseph]

Over 41,000 stranded at Delhi and Mumbai airports

The government Monday said more than 41,000 passengers have been stranded at Mumbai and Delhi international airports as air routes are restricted due to an ash cloud from an Icelandic volcano spreading to Europe, disrupting flights for the last four days.

'There are about 41,435 passengers stranded in Delhi and Mumbai airports. The situation is still grim in Europe,' Civil Aviation secretary M. Madhavan Nambiar told reporters here.

'The officials there are meeting again shortly to take stock of the situation. We will be intimated thereafter,' he added.

Two main international carriers from India, Air India and Jet Airways, will be flying through other routes from Monday till the situation improves in Europe, said Nambiar.

Air India will fly to the U.S. and Canada via Cairo (Egypt), while Jet Airways will fly to these destinations via Athens (Greece).

The ministry has also constituted a control room which would monitor the situation in Europe.

'The control room will also deal with issues concerning passengers. We have met all airline operators and ministry of external affairs officials to expedite the transfer of passengers to their destinations,' said Nambiar.

Over 41,000 stranded at Delhi and Mumbai airports

 

[Gene]

The situation is now very grim as millions of passengers are stranded worldwide by the aviation disruption. It is not only the passengers who are affected, but many services like goods and courier transportation are also affected. About 25000 flights are canceled ….
Scientist are saying that the volcanic eruption will not stop in near future which occurred beneath southern Iceland's Eyjafjallajokull glacier worsened last week. The ashes have spread to many parts of the Europe due to the strong wind.
But there is some respite for the passengers as some airline are conducting test flights & trying to normalize services by considering other routes.
http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/m...english2010/world/2010-04/16/13253861_11n.jpg

 

[Justin Joseph]

This also shows that large number of foreigners visit India at any given point of time.

 

[Gene]