Nagpur: From urbane frequent flyers to rustic workers, everyone reached Nagpur airport on Tuesday to reach their homes before even the last flight was grounded. Still low by normal standards, yet the number of passengers reaching Nagpur went up significantly compared to last one week. TOI inquired with travellers who said flights were nearly full as this was the last chance to reach their destinations.
The last flight of Indigo Airlines scheduled to reach Nagpur at 8pm and supposed to take off for Bengaluru in half an hour reached by 10:10pm. It quickly turned around and took off for Bengaluru by 10.35pm. The turn around could happen fast as there were only 59 passengers and there was no rush at the airport. It takes an hour and thirty five minutes to reach Bengaluru. Four aircraft that could not fly further due to the timings will remain parked at Nagpur, said a source.
The counter of a private airlines was thronged with flyers buying tickets just before they boarded, a scene resembling railway ticket window. As against 34 flights normally scheduled on Monday, the Nagpur airport had only 20 flights operating. The rest were cancelled.
TOI reached the airport in the noon and could find passengers coming from Mumbai and Ahmedabad as well as those leaving for Delhi and Chennai.
A group of young boys engaged as labourers and other work at mobile tower sites waited for their contractor, standing near the departure terminal. The contractor quickly bought tickets for Delhi from the counter. They had to reach their villages close to the national capital.
Soon a group of Tamil speaking workers and site engineers alighted from an SUV. Engaged by a sugar factory here, they were rushing to catch the flight to Chennai. They were followed by Kartik and Singanayakan who move door-to-door selling utensils, even they had to reach Chennai due to an emergency.
Despite the rush, inquiry at the airlines’ counters showed that there was no spike in ticket rates. Many travellers who bought last minute tickets paid Rs3600 to 4,000 which is the normal fare, they said.
25/03/20 Shishir Arya/Times of India
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The last flight of Indigo Airlines scheduled to reach Nagpur at 8pm and supposed to take off for Bengaluru in half an hour reached by 10:10pm. It quickly turned around and took off for Bengaluru by 10.35pm. The turn around could happen fast as there were only 59 passengers and there was no rush at the airport. It takes an hour and thirty five minutes to reach Bengaluru. Four aircraft that could not fly further due to the timings will remain parked at Nagpur, said a source.
The counter of a private airlines was thronged with flyers buying tickets just before they boarded, a scene resembling railway ticket window. As against 34 flights normally scheduled on Monday, the Nagpur airport had only 20 flights operating. The rest were cancelled.
TOI reached the airport in the noon and could find passengers coming from Mumbai and Ahmedabad as well as those leaving for Delhi and Chennai.
A group of young boys engaged as labourers and other work at mobile tower sites waited for their contractor, standing near the departure terminal. The contractor quickly bought tickets for Delhi from the counter. They had to reach their villages close to the national capital.
Soon a group of Tamil speaking workers and site engineers alighted from an SUV. Engaged by a sugar factory here, they were rushing to catch the flight to Chennai. They were followed by Kartik and Singanayakan who move door-to-door selling utensils, even they had to reach Chennai due to an emergency.
Despite the rush, inquiry at the airlines’ counters showed that there was no spike in ticket rates. Many travellers who bought last minute tickets paid Rs3600 to 4,000 which is the normal fare, they said.
25/03/20 Shishir Arya/Times of India
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