- Air India has said it will waive the cancellation charges on Colombo flights
- This applies to confirmed tickets until Friday, March 9
- Air India continues to operate flights to Sri Lanka's capital
- A 10-day emergency has been declared in Sri Lanka due to communal clashes
Air India has said that it would waive cancellation charges on Colombo flights in view of the crisis in Sri Lanka. The national carrier said that no penalties would be charged on refunds, no-show, change of date, and cancellation.
This facility is applicable on confirmed tickets until Friday, March 9.
#FlyAI : In view of prevailing situation in Sri Lanka, #AirIndia confirms that its flight operations to and from #Colombo are normal. Penalties for date/ flight change, refund, no-show, reissuance and cancellation (if any) on confirmed tickets are waived off till 9th March 2018.
— Air India (@airindiain) March 7, 2018
President Maithripala Sirisena declared a 10-day nationwide emergency in Sri Lanka after communal clashes broke out between Buddhist Sinhalese and minority Muslims in the Theldeniya area. The violence then spread to other areas leaving at least two people dead. Scores of mosques and homes have also been vandalised due to the clashes between the Muslims and Buddhists in the nation.
Even though an emergency has been declared in Sri Lanka, a few instances of violence are still being reported. One person was killed in a grenade blast Wednesday and the police have now declared a curfew until 4 pm Thursday in the district of Kandy.
No WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram in Sri Lanka
The Sri Lankan government has also banned the use of social networking sites such as Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp and has also directed service providers to block these sites, reported Business Insider.
In view of the emergency, the US, UK and Australia have also issued travel advisories to citizens.
