Anil Kumar (name changed), a businessman from Ahmedabad, had booked a flight from Ahmedabad to Houston, US via Dubai on Thursday. While he reached Dubai safely, the deluge at the airport significantly delayed his connecting flight to Houston.
“We had to make a new booking for the same flight for Friday. The airline arranged hotel accommodation in Dubai due to bad weather and flight delay. Fortunately, the flight is on schedule on Friday and the passenger departed safely,” said Virendra Shah, a travel company runs in Ahmedabad.
Unprecedented downpours and thunderstorms lashed Dubai earlier this week, disrupting busy airport operations and causing a domino effect worldwide, including for travelers from Ahmedabad. Many from the city travel to Dubai on business. Since many of these travelers were forced to reschedule their trips, rebooking tickets becomes an expensive affair, Shah said.
A return flight to Dubai from Ahmedabad usually costs between Rs 25,000 and Rs 30,000 per person. However, rescheduling this week’s flight tickets for the coming days could mean fares could go up to Rs 60,000 per person.
The fallout from the airport closure and subsequent flight cancellations since April 16 has sent tourists and business travelers from Ahmedabad into a frenzy.
Meanwhile, the Indian Embassy in the UAE responded quickly to the unfolding situation and issued a crucial advisory, urging passengers to reconsider non-essential travel plans until normal airport operations resume.
This has further led to more requests to reschedule travel bookings to Dubai for both business and leisure trips.
“The increased airfares are purely an opportunistic move by the airlines. Their existing inventories are almost fully booked with a limited buffer. Therefore, whoever ends up rearranging their flights pays higher amounts to change their bookings. Many others who are in no hurry to travel have canceled their flights and are demanding full refunds,” said Ankit Bajaj, owner of a travel company in Ahmedabad. Travel industry sources also revealed that several parts of Dubai airport are unusable, which has led to airlines canceling flights, sending airfares further skyrocketing.
