Airlines suspend flights, issue travel advisory due to Cyclone Bulbul

NEW DELHI: Several airlines have suspended flights and issued a travel advisory informing air travellers about possible delay and suspension of flights due to Cylone 'Bulbul', which made landfall in Odisha and West Bengal late on Saturday before heading to Bangladesh on Sunday morning.

Major airlines including IndiGo, Spicejet, Air Asia suspended all flight operations to and from Kolkata after the IMD warning about the Cyclone Bulbul.

Indigo, in a statement, said, "Due to cyclone Bulbul, all flight operations to and from Kolkata been suspended from today 6.00 pm to 6.00 am on Sunday".

#6ETravelUpdate: Due to cyclonic storm Bulbul we are offering waivers cancellation/rescheduling fee for travel on 9 Nov’19 &10 Nov’19 for all flights to/from Kolkata #BulbulCyclone — IndiGo (@IndiGo6E) November 8, 2019

It further mentioned that they were offering waivers cancellation/rescheduling fee for travel on November 9 and 10 for all flights to/from Kolkata.

Vistara also shared information regarding flight details due to cyclone Bulbul.

#Update2 pic.twitter.com/bhP9kUL0Cu — Vistara (@airvistara) November 9, 2019

Due to Cyclone BulBul, AirAsia also cancelled a number of flights to/from Kolkata between 6:00 pm on 09 November until 8:00 am on 10 November 2019 (IST).

AirAsia said that guests travelling this weekend are strongly encouraged to check their flight status at airasia.com/flightstatus for the latest updates.

We are closely monitoring weather conditions in #Kolkata, #India. Guests travelling to/from Kolkata this weekend are encouraged to monitor their flight status at https://t.co/Q4XduYDiS9. — AirAsia (@AirAsia) November 9, 2019

Flight operations were suspended at Kolkata Airport from 6.00 pm Saturday till 6 am on Sunday, November 10 due to Cyclone Bulbul.

"Due to very severe cyclone 'Bulbul', operations at Kolkata airport is being suspended from 1800 hours on November 9 up to 0600 hours on November 10," a home ministry official said.

A large number of trees and electric poles were rooted out in Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapara and Bhadrak districts of Odisha, Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) P K Jena said.

At present, fire service personnel, along with National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and the Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRAF) have started removing uprooted trees from roads to ensure smooth traffic.

Meanwhile, authorities have evacuated about 100,000 people from its low-lying coastal villages and islands as Cyclone Bulbul crossed the coast of West Bengal with a maximum wind speed of 110-120 km per hour gusting upto 120 km per hour into Bangladesh.

The country`s Meteorological Department has asked local authorities and two ports to raise their highest alert, as the cyclone is set to unleash a storm surge as high as two metres (seven feet) in coastal districts.

Bulbul is on course to make landfall in the southwestern Khulna region, near the Sundarbans, the world`s largest mangrove forest, which straddles Bangladesh and part of eastern India and is home to the endangered Bengal tigers.

About 55,000 volunteers have been mobilised to go door-to-door and alert people about the storm.

Authorities have suspended a nationwide school test, cancelled the holidays of officials posted in coastal districts and called off a traditional fair that draws tens of thousands of people in the Sundarbans.