Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar:
IndiGo’s Mumbai flights, both morning and evening, were cancelled again on Thursday, marking the second consecutive day of disruption. With Mumbai flight operations affected for the past three days, passengers have no option but to travel by train or road. As a result, the demand for taxis to Mumbai has doubled, while reservations for almost all Mumbai-bound trains, except the Vande Bharat Express, are on the waiting list for the next three days.
IndiGo had cancelled its Tuesday night Mumbai flight and arranged an alternative flight for passengers on Wednesday morning. However, both the morning and night flights scheduled for Wednesday were cancelled. The same two flights were again cancelled on Thursday, citing ‘operational reasons.’ Due to the cancellations, IndiGo arranged road transport for affected passengers to Mumbai.
With frequent cancellations, many travellers now prefer booking train or road travel instead of flights. From December 5 to 7, reservations for major trains, except the Vande Bharat Express, such as the Rajyarani Express, Janshatabdi Express, Tapovan Express, Nandigram Express, and Devgiri Express, have gone into the waiting list.
Taxi fare to Mumbai inflated: It varied from ₹5,500 to ₹11,000 (depending on vehicle type).
Higher-than-usual demand
Tourist taxi-operator Mohammad Iliyas said,”Due to IndiGo’s Mumbai flight cancellations, the demand for taxis has doubled. Earlier, we would get 2 to 3 taxi bookings per day for Mumbai. Now the demand has risen to 5 to 7 bookings daily. IndiGo is providing taxi services for stranded passengers, and we are supplying vehicles for that as well.”