Several passengers flying from Calcutta to London’s Heathrow on Friday were held up midway or in the city because of the shutdown there.
Heathrow was shut through Friday after a fire at a nearby substation in Hayes, which supplies power to the airport.
The power outage stalled operations at Heathrow, resulting in the cancellation of more than 1,300 flights till Friday evening.
Calcutta airport sources said over 25 passengers of two flights of a Gulf carrier, who were headed for Heathrow, could not board their flights.
“These passengers were to first reach a hub in the Gulf and then take connecting flights to Heathrow. But because of the closure of Heathrow, several of them could not board the flight from Calcutta. Others were rebooked by the airline to airports like Gatwick and Birmingham,” said an airport official.
“Those who are now stuck in Calcutta have been rebooked at a later date,” he said.
Several passengers who took an early flight from Calcutta through Doha were stuck there. “I am stuck and don’t know when I will be able to take the London-bound flight,” said one of them at Doha airport in the afternoon.
“Qatar Airways is working closely with LHR airport officials. Passengers impacted... will be taken care of by our customer care and airport teams,” the airline said on its website.
Qatar Airways has cancelled five flights from Doha to Heathrow till Friday evening.
Emirates, which carries London-bound passengers onward from Dubai, also issued an advisory.
“...Emirates is advising passengers to check their flight status and contact their travel agents or Emirates directly for assistance with rebooking to other UK airports or rescheduling. Passengers connecting onto the flights to London Heathrow will not be accepted for travel until further notice at the point of origin,” the airline advisory said.
Emirates had cancelled six flights from Dubai to Heathrow.
Tour operators said most passengers who fly to London from Calcutta take Emirates, Qatar and Etihad flights with stopovers at their hubs in Dubai, Doha and Abu Dhabi. A few travel through Delhi.
“On average, we have around 100 passengers flying to London from Calcutta every day. We are updating our clients about the situation at Heathrow,” said Anil Punjabi, national committee member of the Travel Agents Federation of India representing the eastern region.
A Calcutta-based professional who is in London for work said he was checking with the airline about the situation. “I arrived on Thursday morning, hours before the power outage. I am scheduled to return on Monday and hoping things will become normal by then,” he said from London.
Chief minister Mamata Banerjee is likely to take an Emirates flight to Dubai at 8.20pm on Saturday and then onwards to Gatwick airport on a connecting flight, state government sources said.