Indian tourists' Europe dreams clouded

The dreams of many Indians planning a vacation in Europe were shattered before they could take wings following the ban on air travel due to hovering ash clouds over European airspace.

Five days into the crisis, tourists from India have started cancelling their travel plans to the affected countries. Tour operators reported over 20 per cent cancellations in bookings for the next few days.

Both the business traveller and tourists have cancelled their bookings to European destinations. “The leisure traveller is now rebooking for places in mid-Europe countries like Italy, Egypt and to eastern destinations like Hong Kong, Macau, etc. People have also asked us to postpone their journey by 10-15 days,” said Sabina Chopra, co-founder Yatra.com.

The holiday season has already started in the western states like Maharashtra and Gujarat and most cancellations and postponements have taken place from these parts. “In north the summer vacations will start in May, so those travellers are keeping a close watch on the situation,” Chopra added.

Travel portal Makemytrip.com has seen 21 per cent cancellation requests. Approximately 12 per cent of its customers have pushed back their travel dates. “Cancellation queries have increased this time. In case passengers travel plans are very near, we are suggesting alternative destinations since sale of flights into Europe are closed,” said Keyur Joshi co-founder and chief operating officer, Makemytrip.com.

The current crisis is also affecting fresh bookings to Europe with the holiday season starting from May. “We have seen cancellations mostly in the business travel section. The leisure traveller would lose money on hotel bookings if they cancel so they would prefer to postpone,” said a Cox&Kings India spokesperson.

Meanwhile, the Centre said it is in talks with Greece for granting third and fourth freedom rights allowing passengers from India to disembark and embark at Athens to avail another mode of communication to other parts of Europe, said a senior ministry official. “Over 41,435 passengers are stranded at Delhi and Mumbai airports since the global air traffic to European and North American cities came to a halt.”

The civil aviation ministry has also set up a control room, headed by joint secretary Prashant Sukul, with officials from Ministry of External Affairs and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation to clear the backlog.

“Though Air India and Jet Airways have started their services to the United States through Athens and Egypt the situation is still grim,” Civil Aviation Secretary M Madhavan Nambiar.

The ash clouds from the erupting volcano that has affected air travel has dropped to a height of about 2 km from 8 km.