Bengaluru: A week after the Israel-Iran conflict broke out, hundreds of passengers trying to return to Bengaluru from Gulf countries remain stranded, with no clear answer on when they will get home.
Travellers are caught in a frustrating cycle, airlines cancel flights, issue fresh tickets, and then cancel those too. Aravind Menon, stranded in Dubai, summed up the ordeal. “We were given another ticket after our first flight was cancelled, but that also got cancelled at the last minute. Every day we are told to wait for updates. There is absolutely no clarity on when we can return to Bengaluru,” he said, according to a report by Times of India.
With several to zero direct flights to Bengaluru, many passengers are now looking at longer, indirect routes just to reach home. Shilpa Krishnamurthy, an IT professional from Bengaluru stuck in Dubai, said she has been left with no choice. “We are looking at options of travel via Doha, Muscat, or Kuwait City because direct flights are getting cancelled again and again. I’m tired of staying in a hotel room,” she said.
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The disruption is hitting both sides of the route. Flights departing from Bengaluru are also operating at severely reduced capacity, leaving business travellers and families anxious. “Many of us are worried about travelling right now because the situation keeps changing and we don’t know if flights will operate normally. Some flights are operating with only about 50 passengers from Bengaluru to Dubai,” said Mohammed Farooq, who had planned to travel for business.
At Kempegowda International Airport, 30 flights were cancelled on Thursday — 14 arrivals and 16 departures. Some services did operate with adjustments. Emirates flight EK566 landed from Dubai at 6.35pm with 358 passengers and departed at 8.20pm as EK567 with 203 passengers on board.
