Airlines waive off flight change penalties for Bengaluru operations

New Delhi/Bengaluru: Most of the domestic airlines on Tuesday waived off flight change penalties for operations from Bengaluru for a limited period of time.

In their respective accounts on micro-blogging website Twitter, domestic airlines announced that the step was taken due to the law and order problem that has emerged in Bengaluru. 

Full-service carrier Vistara in its twitter account said that: "Due to the present situation in BLR, we are waving off date and flight change fee to & from BLR for travel on 13th & 14th Sep."

Jet Airways said: "Due to the current situation in Bengaluru, we will waive off penalties for date change & flight change on confirmed tickets to and from Bengaluru for September 12 and 13."

Air India said: "On account of disturbance,#AI waives applicable penalties of re-issuance, date change,no-show,cancellation & refund charges for travel from/to BLR & HBX for both dom & intl flts,on all tkts issued on/before Sept 12th '16 for trvl on Sept 12th '16."

Budget passenger carrier IndiGo in a statement said: "This is to notify that since Yesterday, September 12, IndiGo has waived all cancellation and change fees for all passengers flying to and from Bengaluru who may wish to change their flights due to the ongoing unrest in the city."

"Despite the difficult situation, there has been no disruption in our scheduled flights so far. We are constantly assessing the situation and will extend the relief to affected passengers till required.

According to industry chamber Assocham, the widespread damage due to the violent protests over the Cauvery dispute has caused Karnataka to suffer a loss of Rs 22,000-25,000 crore besides denting the image of the state capital as India's Silicon Valley.

"With widespread damage to the vital urban infrastructure, interruption in the transport including roads, rail and air and inability of the workforce to safely move to and from offices and factories, Karnataka, particularly Bengaluru city, is estimated to have suffered a loss between Rs 22,000-25,000 crore due to Cauvery dispute related violence," said an Assocham statement.

"Violence in the state capital and other parts of Karnataka has severely dented the image of Bengaluru as Silicon Valley of India, home to almost all the Fortune 500 companies," said the chamber appealing for peace in both Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.