Passengers at Kolhapur's airport faced significant travel disruptions for the second day in a row, leading to widespread rescheduling and ticket cancellations. The issues primarily affected Indigo airlines, which operates key services from the city.
Major Delays on Hyderabad and Bengaluru Routes
Indigo, which runs three services from Kolhapur—two to Hyderabad and one to Bengaluru—was at the centre of the operational chaos. Both morning flights bound for Hyderabad were delayed by 60 and 90 minutes respectively. The impact on passenger plans was immediate and severe.
For one of the Hyderabad flights, which had 67 booked passengers, the delay prompted 15 travellers to reschedule their journey and another 10 to cancel their bookings entirely. The ripple effect of these delays disrupted countless travel itineraries.
An Unprecedented Evening Operation for Bengaluru Flight
The situation escalated with the Bengaluru-bound service, which faced a substantial delay of two-and-a-half hours. This led to an unprecedented operational shift at the airport. For the first time, a scheduled flight's operations were handled late in the evening.
Airport director Anil Shinde confirmed this change, stating, "We have received the green light to operate the Bengaluru flight in the evening; this is a first for a scheduled flight here. Staff duty hours have been extended accordingly." He assured that there were no challenges in addressing passenger concerns during this extended period.
Passenger Ordeal and Ripple Effect to Nashik
The disruptions caused considerable distress among travellers. Ilhan Pathan, a passenger from Kirloskarwadi in Sangli district, shared his experience. He had booked an Indigo flight from Kolhapur to Delhi via Hyderabad for Saturday. Due to the ongoing issues, he cancelled his ticket and was informed of a refund. With an international flight from Delhi scheduled for Saturday night, he could not afford the risk and planned to book a flight from Pune instead.
The travel woes extended beyond Kolhapur. In Nashik, two Indigo flights—to Delhi and Bengaluru—were cancelled on Friday. Shashikant Jadhav, who was seeing off his uncle, claimed they received the cancellation message just 15 minutes before the scheduled departure. "We had called the airline after seeing the issues over the last couple of days and were told the 3:40 PM flight might be delayed by 30 minutes. We arrived based on that, only to be informed it was cancelled," he recounted angrily.
Jadhav demanded a refund for the journey and compensation for the physical and mental harassment, vowing to file a complaint with a consumer forum. The consecutive days of disruptions have highlighted significant operational challenges, leaving passengers frustrated and seeking more reliable alternatives.
