T stir brings down air travel

Hyderabad, Dec. 7: Air travellers have been greatly inconvenienced by the 48-hour bandh call given by the Telangana Rasthra Samiti (TRS) in support of its demand for a separate state.

Travelling to Shamshabad airport is particularly difficult. GMR Hyderabad International Airport Limited stopped operating all the 28 Aero Express bus services on Monday. Unable to reach the airport since even private taxis were scarce, some travellers cancelled their tickets.

Jet Airways, Kingfisher, Air India and other airlines are worried about the safety of passengers travelling between the city and airport.

“We constantly monitored the situation on various routes and sent alerts to our passengers and suggested alternative routes,” said a senior executive of Jet Airways.

“We advised the passengers not to travel on the Tarnaka-Uppal-LB Nagar-Shamshabad route on Monday with violence breaking out in and around the Osmania University campus which is adjacent to Tarnaka,” he said.

The number of passengers on many flights has gone down from 85 per cent to 60 per cent in the last two days as many passengers changed their travel plans.

In-bound travellers have also reportedly revised their travel plans to avoid Hyderabad. Air traffic is likely to be hit further as passengers are scared to travel in their own vehicles between the airport and city.

Several travel agencies have downed shutters, which means loss of passengers who book through agencies. So, though the flights are operating as usual, the numbe of passengers may come down further said a representative of a travel agency.