Flyers at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International (IGI) airport had to face a harrowing time as more than 20 flights were diverted to alternate airports and 100 were delayed between 6 am and 10 am on Monday as wind speed touched 75 km per hour.
According to officials, 13 flights were diverted to Jaipur, two each to Lucknow and Amritsar, and one each to Ahmedabad, Mumbai, and Indore. Officials said the flight disruptions began around 6 am and the normalcy was resumed from around 9 am.
“There was a cascading effect in terms of delays. The airport was packed as a result with the boarding process slowing down considerably between 7 and 9 am,” he added. According to reports, many passengers were kept in airport buses while several flights were diverted. Taking to the micro-blogging site Twitter, Delhi airport said that flights have been affected due to bad weather and urged passengers to get in touch with the respective airlines for updates regarding their flights. ''Due to bad weather, flight operations at @DelhiAirport are affected. Passengers are requested to get in touch with airline concerned for updated flight information,'' it added. The situation also prompted airlines like Air India to reach out to their passengers through their social media channels and inform them of the same.
Air India tweeted, “…Due to inclement weather in Delhi, flights are getting diverted & delayed. Traffic congestion on roads is also likely. Passengers are requested to keep sufficient time in hand to report for flights."SpiceJet also took to Twitter and said, “Due to bad weather in Delhi (DEL), all departures/arrivals and their consequential flights may get affected. Passengers are requested to keep a check on their flight status". Vistara too advised its passengers about flights being impacted due to weather. It tweeted, “Due to Bad Weather (Strong Winds) in Delhi Arrivals/Departures are likely to get impacted." The Palam weather station reported wind speeds of 50 to 75 km per hour around 7 am. “A top speed of 75 km per hour was reported at 6:56 am at Delhi airport.
Such strong winds or wind shear make landing difficult,” said an India Meteorological Department official. The airport also reported 27.6 mm of rainfall till 8:30 am. The flight disruptions began around 6 am and normalcy was resumed from around 9 am.
Officials said there was a cascading effect in terms of delays. The airport was packed as a result with the boarding process slowing down considerably between 7 and 9 am.