Cyclone Michaung: Dozens of flights affected at Chennai, Hyderabad and Pune airports

Image credit: Indian Met Department/ X

Cyclone Michaung, a “severe cyclonic storm” formed off the east coast of India and has impacted millions of people across the southern states of Andra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. Local governments have evacuated thousands as the cyclone prepares to make landfall in the afternoon hours of Tuesday.

The tropical cyclone is expected to make landfall on the coast of Andhra Pradesh, with sustained winds of 90-100 kilometres per hour, gusting to 110 kilometres per hour, India’s meteorological department said on Monday.

The storm has impacted rail, road and airways across these states as the cyclonic conditions brought intense rain to India’s south east coast over the weekend.

Heavy rainfall impacted international and domestic inbound and outbound flights across Chennai and Hyderabad on Monday and Tuesday.

Cyclone Michaung hits ops at Chennai airport

Cyclone Michaung led to a complete shutdown of operations at Chennai airport from Monday noon. The airport opened to flights on Tuesday morning, after the runway and hangars were cleared of water.

Chennai airport officials announced resumption of normal functioning after the 17-hour disruption led to the cancellation of several flights, with some extending into Tuesday.

#UPDATE | Airfield now open for all arrival and departure operations. #ChennaiRains #ChennaiAirport @MoCA_GoI | @AAI_Official | @pibchennai

— Chennai (MAA) Airport (@aaichnairport) December 5, 2023

Flights from UAE to Chennai hit by storm conditions

Multiple flights from the UAE to Chennai were cancelled or diverted on Monday and Tuesday.

Emirates Airline flight EK544 to Chennai was diverted to Bengaluru on Monday. Additionally, the airline issued a statement on the cancellation of flights to and from Chennai.

“Flights EK542/543 and EK546/547 on December 4, and EK544/545 on December 5 to/from Chennai have been cancelled. We are closely monitoring the situation and customers are advised to check our website for further updates,” a spokesperson said.

A flydubai flight (FZ-449) from Dubai International (DXB) to Chennai was diverted to Bengaluru. “Passengers were provided with refreshments and ground transportation to their final destination. flydubai’s return flight FZ-450 has been cancelled due to the persisting weather conditions in Chennai and our team is currently working on alternative travel plans for our passengers,” a spokesperson for the carrier said.

Etihad Airways said it cancelled two flights (EY246/247 and EY270/271) between Abu Dhabi and Chennai on December 4.

The airline said it planned to operate a larger aircraft on December 5 in order to accommodate affected passengers, reported a local daily.

Hyderabad airport ops affected

Hyderabad airport saw over ten flights cancelled from and to its GMR Hyderabad International Airport. The affected flights include six from IndiGo, four each from Air Asia and Alliance Air, and two from SpiceJet.

Domestic flights from Hyderabad to cities such as Chennai, Rajahmundry, Bhubaneswar and Tirupati were cancelled, while while a few flights were rescheduled/ and or diverted.

Pune airport

The heavy rain and flooding in Chennai caused by Cyclone Michaung caused a cascading effect at Pune, resulting in the cancellation of atleast 12 flights.

According to Airports Authority of India (AAI) officials, a total of six outbound and six inbound flights stand cancelled. These include flights on Chennai, Mangalore, Hyderabad, Nagpur, and Bengaluru routes, among others.

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