Computer glitches, security issues, refueling and maintenance problems are listed in aviation circles as being among the top ten reasons why airlines cancel flights. Weather related issues are usually on top of the list, but even there, cancellations are mostly attributed to freak storms, rain, and wind. In what appears to be a rare case in aviation history, United Airlines on Friday scrubbed its direct, non-stop Newark-New Delhi flight, citing air quality issues in India's capital.
UA 82 CANCELLED read the announcement for the Friday 9pm flight that was to arrive in Delhi at 9.30pm on Saturday. On its website, United offered free schedule changes for travel dates between November 9 and November 13, citing "Delhi, India Air Quality" under the event column.
New Delhi's Indira Gandhi Airport is by far the busiest in India handling more than 30 million passengers annually compared to Mumbai's 23 million and Bangalore's 12 million in second and third place. It has also been ranked the 9th busiest airport in Asia and the 20th busiest in the world, and it has racked up awards in recent times for design and maintenance.
All that of course has nothing to do with the pall of smog that has descended on the city and its neighborhoods in recent days from a variety of factors, including vehicular pollution.
Not counting Bangladesh, the United States send the most tourists to India (1.29 million in 2016, accounting for 15 per cent of tourist arrivals) and news of United's shafting could send a jolt through the tourism sector, which remains in doldrums despite the much-hyped Incredible India campaign launched 15 years ago.
The Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report 2017 ranks India 40th out of 136 countries overall, and worldwide, Delhi is ranked at 28 by the number of foreign tourist arrivals. Outside the luxury segment and hardcore adventurer sector that frequently combines travels in India with other places in the subcontinent. This "smogasboard" is not going to help.
UA 82 CANCELLED read the announcement for the Friday 9pm flight that was to arrive in Delhi at 9.30pm on Saturday. On its website, United offered free schedule changes for travel dates between November 9 and November 13, citing "Delhi, India Air Quality" under the event column.
New Delhi's Indira Gandhi Airport is by far the busiest in India handling more than 30 million passengers annually compared to Mumbai's 23 million and Bangalore's 12 million in second and third place. It has also been ranked the 9th busiest airport in Asia and the 20th busiest in the world, and it has racked up awards in recent times for design and maintenance.
All that of course has nothing to do with the pall of smog that has descended on the city and its neighborhoods in recent days from a variety of factors, including vehicular pollution.
Not counting Bangladesh, the United States send the most tourists to India (1.29 million in 2016, accounting for 15 per cent of tourist arrivals) and news of United's shafting could send a jolt through the tourism sector, which remains in doldrums despite the much-hyped Incredible India campaign launched 15 years ago.
The Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report 2017 ranks India 40th out of 136 countries overall, and worldwide, Delhi is ranked at 28 by the number of foreign tourist arrivals. Outside the luxury segment and hardcore adventurer sector that frequently combines travels in India with other places in the subcontinent. This "smogasboard" is not going to help.
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