Thursday, March 03, 2005
Passengers stranded as Air Deccan puts flights on hold
No-frills carrier Air Deccan, on Wednesday, announced the sudden withdrawal of services to the city till March 9. Nearly 120 passengers booked on Thursday's flight are now left in the lurch. This is the second instance of Air Deccan suspending operations for a prolonged period at short notice since starting flights to Kolkata a couple of months ago.
Though Air Deccan offered no explanation, sources said the Chennai-Kolkata-Chennai sector had been summarily dumped after one of the A-320 aircraft in its fleet was grounded.
The "now on, now off" operations on the Kolkata-Chennai sector has left passengers as well as the travel/trade industry miffed. While they acknowledge that technical glitches can occur, what they don't agree to is the absence of an exigency plan.
"The carrier must augment its fleet and start operations in the sector when there's a degree of confidence to service it properly. Sudden suspension of operations erodes passenger confidence," a travel agent said.
Aviation industry experts, however, pointed out that such risks were part of the low-cost airline business. "Unlike regular carriers, they cannot afford to keep a buffer aircraft. That would jack up costs," an aviation industry source said.
More here.
- posted by katongking @ 11:45 am
No-frills carrier Air Deccan, on Wednesday, announced the sudden withdrawal of services to the city till March 9. Nearly 120 passengers booked on Thursday's flight are now left in the lurch. This is the second instance of Air Deccan suspending operations for a prolonged period at short notice since starting flights to Kolkata a couple of months ago.
Though Air Deccan offered no explanation, sources said the Chennai-Kolkata-Chennai sector had been summarily dumped after one of the A-320 aircraft in its fleet was grounded.
The "now on, now off" operations on the Kolkata-Chennai sector has left passengers as well as the travel/trade industry miffed. While they acknowledge that technical glitches can occur, what they don't agree to is the absence of an exigency plan.
"The carrier must augment its fleet and start operations in the sector when there's a degree of confidence to service it properly. Sudden suspension of operations erodes passenger confidence," a travel agent said.
Aviation industry experts, however, pointed out that such risks were part of the low-cost airline business. "Unlike regular carriers, they cannot afford to keep a buffer aircraft. That would jack up costs," an aviation industry source said.
More here.
- posted by katongking @ 11:45 am
