According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), Cyclone Tauktae is predicted to intensify over the Arabian Sea and is likely to cross the coast of Gujarat on May 18. The impact of the cyclone is being felt in the northeast, east-central, and southeast Arabian Sea, as per the weather department. The cyclone has turned into a severe storm hover over Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala, Lakshadweep islands and the Maldives area, triggering heavy rainfall in the coastal and adjoining districts of all these states.
The cyclonic storm has affected operations at 12 airports following which airport authorities and numerous airlines have issued travel advisories for passengers who are scheduled to board flights over the next few days.
The senior management at the Airports Authority of India took stock of the preparedness of western coastal airports in Southern Region and Western Region and directed concerned airports to take all precautions and plan their preparedness.
Agatti Airport in Lakshadweep has suspended operation of all scheduled flights due to heavy rain till 10 am on Sunday. Officials have stated that as and when Cyclone Tauktae passes the area, the airport will resume operating flights.
Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) will remain suspended from 11am till 2pm today in view of the cyclone alert.
Surat airport has shut down all operations till 6pm today.
Vistara Airlines has issued a statement saying that their flight operations to and from eight airports will be affected due to the adverse weather conditions expected over the Arabian sea including Pune, Goa, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi, Chennai, and Ahmedabad will be impacted till May 17. All the passengers have been urged to keep an eye on the updated flight status.
"Considering prevalent weather conditions in, around, en route Goa due to very severe cyclonic storm &lsquoTauktae&rsquo, all airlines have cancelled their flight operations to and from Goa for today", tweeted the Goa International Airport.
IndiGo Airlines has allowed their passengers to elect for alternate options which includes seeking a refund of their travel expenditure. They stated that the flights to and from Goa, Belgavi, Hubli and Kolhapur have been impacted and the IndiGo flight operations are likely to be affected till May 17.
&ldquoDue to bad weather in Belagavi (IXG), all departures/arrivals and their consequential flights may get affected. Passengers are requested to keep a check on their flight status,&rdquo tweeted SpiceJet.
The government of Kerala has also opened the shutters of 13 dams across the state and the gates of a few more have been opened to release excess water.
Between May 16 and 18, the cyclonic activity is expected to bring rain or thunderstorm in the coastal belt with heavy to extremely heavy rainfall expected to be received in some of the places in the region. All ports in Gujarat have been asked to warn fishermen and take a halt from venturing into the sea, in view of this prediction.