Cyclone Arnab Cancels Flights at Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada and Chennai Ahead of Wednesday Landfall

Airlines began canceling flights in southern India for Cyclone Arnab on Tuesday, October 27, 2026, a day before the storm is forecast to cross the Andhra Pradesh coast. IndiGo dropped flights to and from Visakhapatnam and Vijayawada, and Air India Express warned that its flights to both cities could be affected.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) expects the storm to make landfall near Yanam, between Bapatla and Visakhapatnam, by the forenoon of Wednesday, October 28, as a very severe cyclonic storm.

Which flights are affected

At Chennai, four IndiGo flights were canceled on Tuesday, DT Next reported. They were the 4 p.m. departure to Visakhapatnam, the 7:05 p.m. departure to Vijayawada, and the return flights from both cities due into Chennai International Airport at 8 p.m. and 10:05 p.m.

DT Next said Wednesday’s Chennai to Andhra Pradesh flights were still undecided.

Further canceled IndiGo flights at Vijayawada Airport included 6E7305 from Chennai and 6E7247 from Bengaluru, plus 6E2581, 6E7302 and 6E7246 out to Hyderabad, Chennai and Bengaluru, according to The Week, which drew on Skyscanner listings. It said IndiGo had also canceled Visakhapatnam flights on routes to Kolkata, Delhi, Chennai and Hyderabad.

At Visakhapatnam itself, four flights had been canceled and four diverted by Tuesday, Gujarat Samachar reported, without naming the airlines. IndiGo had not published a route-by-route list at the time of writing, so the full count is not yet known.

What Air India Express and the airport told passengers

Air India Express posted a travel advisory on X at about 9:56 a.m. India time on Tuesday. It said weather from Tropical Cyclone Arnab may affect flights to and from Visakhapatnam and Vijayawada on October 27, and pointed passengers to its flight status page.

The airline also warned that road travel could be slowed by the weather and asked passengers to allow extra time to reach the airport. Several outlets attributed the notice to Air India, but the post came from the Air India Express account.

Visakhapatnam’s airport issued its own advisory at 8:14 a.m. It told passengers to check their flight with the airline before leaving home, allow extra travel time, and contact the airline directly to rebook or cancel.

That road warning matters more this year. Since August 17, 2026, Visakhapatnam’s scheduled flights have used the new Alluri Sitarama Raju International Airport at Bhogapuram in Vizianagaram district, which took over the VTZ code when the old civil enclave at the INS Dega naval base closed to airlines.

Unlike the old Visakhapatnam airport, the new one is outside the city. The Week put the Vizag Aero Express electric bus at 75 to 110 minutes between the old airport and the new one.

Where the storm is heading

Arnab strengthened from a deep depression into a cyclonic storm early on Monday, October 26, when it was about 404 miles (650 km) east-southeast of Visakhapatnam, DT Next reported from the IMD bulletin.

The IMD’s satellite fix at 11:30 a.m. India time on Tuesday placed the center at 16.1 degrees north, 83.8 degrees east, and noted an eye pattern that was still poorly defined.

At landfall the IMD first forecast sustained winds of 71 to 78 mph (115 to 125 km/h) gusting to 87 mph (140 km/h). It raised that on Tuesday morning to 78 to 84 mph (125 to 135 km/h) with gusts to 93 mph (150 km/h), the Daily Pioneer’s live coverage showed.

The IMD has also issued a red alert for heavy to very heavy rain in Andhra Pradesh and Odisha. On the ground, Indian Railways had canceled more than 60 trains by Tuesday, The Week reported.

Why airlines cancel before the storm arrives

IndiGo has not said why it chose these flights. Canceling a day early is a common precaution, though, because an aircraft and crew that night-stop at a coastal airport can be stuck there if it closes, taking the next morning’s flights with them.

That fits the pattern seen on Tuesday, when evening flights were dropped more than 12 hours before the forecast landfall. It also means a flight can be canceled even when the weather looks calm at the departure airport.

A tropical cyclone over the Bay of Bengal is the same kind of storm as an Atlantic hurricane, under a different name. AeroCorner’s explainer on flying near hurricanes covers what those winds mean for aircraft.

What happened in Cyclone Montha a year ago

The same coast was hit almost exactly a year earlier. Cyclone Montha, which the IMD rated a severe cyclonic storm, crossed the Andhra Pradesh coast near Narasapuram around midnight on October 28 to 29, 2025.

On October 28, 2025, all 32 scheduled flights at the old Visakhapatnam airport were canceled, airport director N. Purushottam told PTI, and Vijayawada canceled 16 flights while running five, Outlook reported. Only two Air India Express flights had been canceled at Visakhapatnam the day before.

Montha is a guide, not a forecast. Arnab is forecast to be stronger at landfall, and Visakhapatnam’s flights now run from a different airport, so Wednesday’s schedule will depend on how the storm actually tracks. Passengers booked for October 28 or 29 should check their flight with the airline before setting out.