Tough times for stranded air travellers

The going has been tough for thousands of air travellers stranded at Delhi and Mumbai after volcanic ash from Iceland disrupted air traffic for six days with some struggling to report back to work and some postponing their dream holidays to Europe.

Though flights to the US and Canada have resumed, a large number of passengers are still waiting eagerly for opening of European airports and resumption of flights. Cancellation of flights played a spoilsport for honeymoon couple Rashmi and Arun, who had planned a 15-day long trip to European cities starting April 15.

"Closure of airspace and cancellation of flights to Europe has spoiled our plans. Even in our dreams we have not thought that our plans would have gone awry," said Arun.

But now the couple have cancelled their trip as the airports in European cities have not opened yet and are planning a trip to Bangkok or Mauritius. Apart from them there were families, who have taken various European holiday package from travel agents, but have been now forced to cancel or postpone their plans.

"We have quite a few families who were booked on European packages and have now cancelled or postponed their plans of travelling to Europe," said an official from Makemytrip.com.

Besides holidayers, students and businessmen have been hit. Jagbeer Tariwal, a resident of Ludhiana pursuing an arts course in a Paris college, is going through anxious moments as he has to appear for his examination in the first week of May and has to give a presentation prior to that.

"I have to give my presentation in the last week of April and take my examinations in the first week of May, but if the closure continues then, I fear, I may lose a complete year," said an anxious Tariwal. Tariwal, who is staying in a hotel near the airport, makes frequent trips to the airport in anticipation of getting some "good news" from the airlines.

"I will wait for the next two days or so and if the airspace restriction does not ends then I will go back home," he said.

According to an estimate, airlines worldwide were incurring a loss of $300 million per day due to the restrictions. But the worst hit were those who had come to India to meet their family and have to now report back to work.

"I have come here to attend a family function but since flights are cancelled I don't know how I am going to go back to join duty. Even if the flights resume, I am not sure if I will get a seat or not," said P Bharadwaj, who works in a software firm in the UK.

For foreign travellers, who were on a trip to India or neighbouring countries like Bhutan, it has been a harrowing experience as many of them have run out of money. Barbara Cekam, 50, was scheduled to leave for her hometown Munich on Saturday, but has been sleeping in the airport's lounge for the past four nights.

She has spent four nights on a chair in the lounge and also celebrated her 51st birthday in the overcrowded room on Tuesday. "I can't stay in a hotel because I don't have any money," she said, adding it was an expensive trip.

She alleged that hotels near the airport were taking advantage of the situation and charging more. Another elderly tourist couple, Geoffery and Janette, who were to board a flight to London last Friday and were staying in a hotel, alleged that after two days the airlines asked them to bear their cost themselves.

"We were asked to pay our bills after two days of stay by the airlines, but we don't have money. How can we pay the bills?" asked Geoffery. However, some tourists have used the situation to their advantage and are visiting places which they could not go earlier. "With flights being cancelled, I took time to visit those places which I missed during my stay. I also spent time reading books which I have not done for about four years and enjoyed it," said John Scwaham, who had arrived from Britain.

Meanwhile, travel portal Makemytrip.com claimed that it has been receiving double the calls from passengers after the flight disruptions.

"About 50 per cent of the calls were related to cancellation, inquiry or request, date change and the status of the booking," an official said. They claimed that passengers have already started to change or postpone their plans.

"In fact some customers have changed their destination from Europe to elsewhere." The official suggested that travellers "wait for a couple of days as the situation would soon get cleared." The government has also asked the travellers to postpone their travel plans.