‘Misinformation’: Kochi airport dismisses airline’s social media post citing bad weather for disruption of services

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SpiceJet operates several domestic and international flights from Kochi. File photo. | Photo Credit: Reuters

The Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL) has dismissed what it termed social media “misinformation” by SpiceJet airline, which had wrongly attributed disruption of its services to and from Kochi to bad weather.

Earlier in the day, the airline posted on its X handle that “all departures/arrivals and their consequential flights” might be affected due to bad weather in Kochi, urging passengers to check their flight status through its portal. The post came just hours after passengers created a ruckus at Kochi airport late Friday night over hours-long delays in SpiceJet’s services to Fujairah and Dubai.

#WeatherUpdate : Due to bad weather in Kochi (COK), all departures/arrivals and their consequential flights might be affected. Passengers are requested to check their flight status via https://t.co/ZsAAnbsXYR .

In a passenger advisory, CIAL noted continuing operational issues faced by SpiceJet, affecting its international services from Kochi and causing considerable inconvenience and uncertainty to passengers.

“At a time when the airline is yet to satisfactorily address the concerns of affected passengers, SpiceJet has issued a social media communication spreading misinformation by attributing the disruption to bad weather at Kochi. However, there were no adverse weather conditions at Kochi warranting the disruption cited in the communication. It may also be noted that no other airline operating from Kochi has reported such cancellations on account of weather conditions during the same period,” the advisory observed.

Despite mounting passenger grievances, the issues have not been adequately addressed or rectified by the airline and have continued to worsen over the past few days. Passengers booked on SpiceJet flights were therefore advised to recheck their flight status with the airline before proceeding to the airport, the statement added. SpiceJet authorities could not be reached for clarification.

According to airport sources, inordinate delays and even cancellations have marked SpiceJet’s services from Kochi in recent days. Repeated rescheduling has become routine, with passengers often not alerted in advance.

“In many cases, passengers rushing to attend emergencies, including deaths, have been hit by constant rescheduling and resultant delays. Services rescheduled for hours after the original time further get rescheduled again, leaving passengers stranded at the airport,” said an aggrieved passenger on condition of anonymity.

The airline operates multiple international and domestic services from Kochi airport.

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