Flyers' trouble doubled by runway closure

Mumbai: For flyers, who are already going through a harrowing time owing to the ongoing Air India pilots' strike, the five-hour closure of cross-runways at the city airport on Saturday only added to their woes.
The repair work on the cross-runways between 11.30 am and 4.30 pm translated into 100 fewer flights and a jam-packed schedule on the popular sectors due to the weekend rush. Of the 56 AI flights scheduled to take off from Mumbai, 39 were called off and besides, 39 landing flights were cancelled.
Owing to the impasse, the prices of the few available seats for the next two days have shot up, pushing them up to Rs 15,000-Rs 20,000. Most flyers are now left with no option but to wait till the eleventh hour to ascertain their flight status.
Airport officials also admitted that flight seats were scarce on According to tour operators , fares would be lower on Sunday than that on Monday , when the rush would be maximum. A ticket on Delhi-Mumbai flight is selling for Rs 7,500-10 ,000 on Sunday, while the rate on Monday has gone up to Rs 10,000-16 ,000. Similarly, a flight to Chennai costs Rs 11,000-15 ,000 on Sunday but the ticket on Monday has shot up to Rs 15,000-Rs 23,000.
01/05/11 Chinmayi Shalya

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Categories: Air India May 2011, Airports May 2011