Cyclone Arnab suspends flights and cancels services along Andhra Pradesh coast

Cyclone Arnab disrupted transport along the Andhra Pradesh coast, including flight services and, as The Hindu’s headline describes, rail, road and port operations. At Visakhapatnam, flight operations stopped from the afternoon of October 27. Services at Vijayawada and Rajahmundry were suspended later that day, after 19.00 IST, according to Hyderabad Mail.

Telugu360 also reported suspensions at the three airports, but did not give the later start time for Vijayawada and Rajahmundry. Air India reported six cancelled flights: services on the Delhi–Visakhapatnam–Delhi route on October 27 and the Delhi–Vijayawada–Delhi route on October 28.

Air India Express cancelled 13 flights, primarily those connecting Visakhapatnam with Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Vijayawada. Together, the two airlines’ cancellations total 19. The Delhi–Bhogapuram–Delhi service scheduled for October 28 was also cancelled.

Hyderabad Mail identifies Akasa Air as the airline operating that service; Telugu360 describes it as cancelled as a precautionary measure. These accounts thus provide different detail about the same cancellation, rather than different cancellation totals.

The India Meteorological Department’s October 28 bulletin said the very severe cyclonic storm was moving towards the Andhra Pradesh and Yanam coasts. It forecast sustained winds of 115–125 kmph and gusts reaching 140 kmph during landfall. The forecast describes the hazard facing coastal areas; the reports do not provide a confirmed landfall outcome.

Rainfall measurements in the bulletin, recorded up to 08.30 IST on October 28, included 315 mm at Visakhapatnam (Waltair), 275 mm at Anakapalli and 257 mm at Srikakulam. These recorded totals provide a measure of the weather conditions accompanying the disruption, while the reports give no figures for resulting injuries, deaths or damage.

The coverage emphasizes different parts of the disruption. The Hindu’s headline includes rail, road and port operations, while the two excerpted reports detail airport suspensions and airline cancellations. Urban Acres’ headline also points to disrupted rail services and the forecast 140 kmph gusts; Organiser’s headline emphasizes advance warnings and rescue operations.

The detailed accounts available here focus on aviation, rainfall and the meteorological forecast, rather than specifying the rail, road, port or rescue measures. The immediate operational picture is therefore clearest for air travel: the three named airports suspended services, and the named airlines cancelled flights on specific routes.

The storm’s movement toward the coast, forecast wind speeds and measured rainfall describe the conditions accompanying those interruptions; the reports do not give a timetable for when suspended services would resume.