In what caused major inconvenience to air passengers flying in and out of the country’s commercial Capital, as many as 225 flights of different airlines were cancelled on the first day of two-day closure of the Mumbai International Airport runway from 11 am to 5 pm on Monday.
An official of the Mumbai International Airport ltd (MIAl) attributed the closure of the Airport runway from 11 am to 5 pm to the “pre-planned maintenance activities before the monsoon season”. The airport runway will remain closed between 11 am and 5 pm on Tuesday as well.
Ahead of the impending closure of the airport runway, the MIAl had requested passengers planning their travel during this period “to allow for sufficient time, in case of delays, while making their bookings”.
Notwithstanding the prior announcement by the MIAl about the impending closure of the airport runway, the flight plans of thousands of passengers were badly affected on Monday. On its part, Air India cancelled at least 34 flights and rescheduled around half a dozen other services till Tuesday evening, while Jet Airways cancelled at least 64 domestic and six international flights. Spicejet has also cancelled around 70 flights.
A MIAl spokesperson said that an estimated 225 flights of different airlines would be cancelled during the seven-hour closure between 11 am and 5 pm on Tuesday due to “pre-planned maintenance activities”. The Mumbai airport, which is the second busiest in the country, has two crossing runways — 09/27 (the main) and 14/32 (the secondary runway). The primary runway has the capacity to handle up to 48 arrivals and departures per hour, while the secondary runway can handle 35 movements per hour.
On an average, there are 970 flight arrivals and departures at the Mumbai airport every day.
“There is negligible impact of the temporary runway closure on our operations. Only six of our flights were cancelled and four were retimed on both the days. Prior notification of the closure helped us plan well and minimise the impact to the very minimal. The very few passengers who were booked on the cancelled flights were offered other alternatively convenient options,” a Vistara spokesperson claimed.
The two-day closure of the Mumbai airport runway has a major bearing on the flight operations, both domestic and international flights and charted aircraft, at the height of the summer vacation season.
Meanwhile, air passengers can expect major disruptions – arising out of similar maintenance schedules -- in other airports as well, in the coming weeks.
The Chandigarh Airport runway will be closed from May 12 to May 31, while Ahmedabad - Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport runway has been under closure daily from 10 am-7 pm from March 25 which will continue till April 15.
The Calicut International Airport’s runway has also been under closure from 12 noon to 8 pm daily under maintenance schedules from March 25, a closure which will last up to June 15.
The Jaipur International Airport’s runway remains closed daily from 10 pm-5 am since March 25 till May 31, while lucknow - Chaudhary Charan Singh Airport ‘s runway has been also under repairs daily from 9 pm till 6 am from March 25 to June 30.