Cyclone Arnab over the Bay of Bengal is heading toward the Andhra Pradesh coast, threatening flight operations. Air India issued an advisory for passengers while the state prepared relief measures across 16 districts.
New Delhi | Airline operations are likely to be affected as Cyclone Arnab over the Bay of Bengal moves toward coastal areas of Andhra Pradesh.
Air India issued a travel advisory on Tuesday warning passengers about potential disruptions to flights operating to and from Visakhapatnam and Vijayawada.
In an advisory shared on social media platform X, Air India stated that weather conditions caused by the cyclone could impact flights on October 27.
The airline also warned that adverse weather might delay road travel to the airports. Travelers were advised to check flight status before leaving home.
The airline urged passengers to plan their travel keeping the weather conditions in mind. Passengers were advised to leave for airports earlier than usual.
According to the IMD and APSDMA, Cyclone Arnab was located 300 km from Visakhapatnam, 360 km from Kakinada, 460 km from Machilipatnam, and 530 km from Bapatla on Tuesday morning.
APSDMA Managing Director Prakhar Jain said the cyclone will move west-northwest until Tuesday evening before moving northwest toward the coast.
It is expected to make landfall around Yanam between Bapatla and Visakhapatnam on Wednesday morning.
The Meteorological Department alerted that the system may intensify into an extremely severe cyclonic storm at the time of landfall.
Large-scale relief and rescue preparations have been made in Andhra Pradesh. Early assessments indicate 16 districts, 2,460 revenue villages, and 92 urban areas lie in the path.
Authorities have readied 1,763 cyclone shelters. A total of 2,907 control rooms and 3,185 nodal officers have been deployed for monitoring.
Evacuation measures have been activated across 2,107 Swarna Gram and Swarna Ward units to move vulnerable populations to safety.
Teams from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) have been deployed in 11 vulnerable districts.
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