Chennai: Flight operations to the Gulf region from Chennai continued to be impacted for the third consecutive day on Monday, though airlines such as Emirates announced that it resumed limited operations after Dubai partly opened its airport for operations. Cancellations included 14 arrivals and 16 departures, to and from destinations such as Dubai, Doha, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, and Bahrain. Airlines including Emirates, Etihad, Air India, IndiGo, and Air Arabia continued to suspend flight operations due to the airspace closure. Indigo cancelled its flights to Abu Dhabi and Doha until Wednesday as a precautionary measure, anticipating that the tension in the region should settle in two days. Emirates, in a statement, said it will begin operating a limited number of flights from Monday. “We are accommodating customers with earlier bookings as a priority, and those who were rebooked to travel on these limited flights will be contacted directly by Emirates,” it said.At least a few thousand foreign tourists were stuck in Chennai, unable to return to their respective countries, he said. With the war, and airports including Dubai shut, many tourists were stuck in India. Many travellers also faced the risk of overstaying, while tour operators were tasked with the burden of hosting the guests for the extended stay.“There are flights that avoid the Gulf airspace and take routes via Ethiopia or Mauritius from places such as Chennai, Bengaluru, and Mumbai. But the costs are almost thrice the regular fare,” said D Karunanidhi, a city-based tour operator. “The situation reminds me of pandemic times when travel was a nightmare,” he said.He hoped that the situation would normalise by mid-March, when outbound tourists go to European countries for summer holidays.
