As rains hit Mumbai airport, Indigo, SpiceJet ask passengers to check flight status - waiver on change, cancellation fee

Mumbai has emerged as a real winner! Yes, it has received copious amounts of rain over the last week. In just first two days of July, the city has witnessed 467 mm of rains against its monthly average of 840.7 mm, which is more than half of July’s average, explained Skymet. Unfortunately, the good news stops there. Why? Well, it has left Maximum city under water, which has hit rail, road and air travel - somehow India's financial hub gets slowed down due to water logging every year. Hundreds of flights have been either delayed or cancelled travelling from or to Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport. In the midst of all this uncertainty, airlines like Indigo and SpiceJet have warned their customers to check their flight status before travelling. Chances are their flight can either be cancelled or delayed or even diverted.  

Indigo via its Twitter account said, "Request all passengers to check for delays/diversions due to temporary main runway closure resulting in heavy air traffic congestion at Mumbai."

#6ETravelAdvisory: To check flight status, please visit https://t.co/Mj1tYZIvoE or send an SMS ST <flight no.><flight date> as DDMM, e.g. for flight 6E-333 for July 02, send ST 333 0207 to 566772. pic.twitter.com/KkzcTmbf32

— IndiGo (@IndiGo6E) July 1, 2019

The largest airline in terms of market share, also said, due to heavy rains, we're offering change/cancellation fee waiver to passengers travelling to/fro #Mumbai till July 3, 2019. You may visit Plan B https://bit.ly/2FvWAmf  to opt for alternate options or refund. Stay safe and keep a tab on your flight status.

#6ETravelAdvisory: Due to heavy rains, we're offering change/cancellation fee waiver to passengers travelling to/fro #Mumbai till July 3, 2019. You may visit Plan B https://t.co/O73ExNIz7i to opt for alternate options or refund. Stay safe and keep a tab on your flight status.

— IndiGo (@IndiGo6E) July 2, 2019

To check flight status at Indigo, you can visit http://www.goindigo.in   or send an SMS ST <flight no.><flight date> as DDMM, e.g. for flight 6E-333 for July 02, send ST 333 0207 to 566772.

Even SpiceJet said, "Due to bad weather at Mumbai (BOM), all departures/arrivals and their consequential flights might get affected. The passengers are requested to keep a check on their flight status via http://bit.ly/2GB1ork ."

#WeatherUpdate: Due to bad weather at Mumbai (BOM), all departures/arrivals and their consequential flights might get affected. The passengers are requested to keep a check on their flight status via https://t.co/DaY8nCBre4.

— SpiceJet (@flyspicejet) July 1, 2019

SpiceJet has also offered full waiver on cancellation and date change charges for travel to and from Mumbai for 2nd and 3rd July’19.  

#TravelUpdate : In view of heavy rains, SpiceJet is offering a full waiver on cancellation and date change charges for travel to and from Mumbai for 2nd and 3rd July’19. 1/2

— SpiceJet (@flyspicejet) July 2, 2019

Talking about heavy rains and their impact on Mumbai, Balu Ramachandran, Senior Vice President, Cleartrip told Zee Business Online, "Mumbai Airport is among the busiest airports of the country and handles around 950 aircraft movements on a daily basis. The heavy rainfall in Mumbai has impacted the airport operations leading to disruption in flight schedules. Most airlines have announced free changes and cancellations from  2nd July because of this."

Ramachandran also added, "Cleartrip is communicating regularly with its customers regarding delays and reschedules as per the information shared by the airlines. As per the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), Mumbai will continue to witness heavy rainfall and the situation may last for some more days."

According to Skymet, June began on a very disappointing note but ended on a surplus note. On the other hand, July began with a bang giving heavy rains from the first day itself. In fact, in the first two days of July, Mumbai has already recorded 467 mm of rains against its monthly average of 840.7 mm of rains, which is more than half of July’s average.

Moreover, it has been incessantly raining since Friday with the city seeing heavy rains throughout wherein Friday saw 235 mm of rains, followed by 93 mm on Saturday, wherein Sunday recorded 92 mm. Finally, Monday saw very heavy rain of as much as 375 mm.

Thus, Skymet says, "in the past four days, the city has recorded 795 mm of rainfall bringing normal life to a standstill. Almost the entire city has been submerged in water causing a break for the residents. Mumbai has almost drowned and rainfall activities refuse to stop."