Cyclone Fengal: Flights Diverted To Bengaluru As Chennai Airport Suspends Ops, Passengers Enraged

Flight diversions to Bengaluru Airport from Chennai, prompted by Cyclone Fengal, left numerous passengers stranded as operations were suspended at Chennai Airport.

The resulting delays and cancellations caused confusion among passengers, many of whom expressed their frustration on social media.

Photo Credit: PTI

One user shared, "I was supposed to land in Bengaluru at 4:35. I'm yet to board the plane. #CycloneFengal is to blame, but a friend who took the same flight last week had a similar delay."

Another commented, "My family, travelling from Europe, has landed in Bangalore today as Chennai flights were diverted. This is due to the cyclone, and we hope appropriate safety measures were taken in Chennai to close the airport."

Several passengers tagged airlines, seeking updates on their flight status, as some flights were cancelled. One passenger told ANI, "I arrived at Chennai airport yesterday at 6 pm. My flight has been cancelled due to Cyclone Fengal. We have received no response regarding the flight we booked."

Many passengers had been waiting at the airport for hours. "My fellow passengers have been at the airport for 12 hours. The airline needs to arrange another flight or refund our money, but we have yet to receive any response. The flights are being diverted to Bengaluru," said another traveller.

Chennai Airport authorities later announced that operations would resume at 1 a.m. on Sunday. Initially, they had planned to cancel all arrivals and departures until 4 a.m. on Sunday but resumed services after reassessing the weather conditions.

Due to the 16-hour suspension of operations at Chennai Airport, caused by strong winds and heavy rainfall from Cyclone Fengal, 16 flights, including five international flights, were redirected to Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) in Bengaluru.