506 flights delayed and three cancelled in rain-hit Mumbai

Heavy rain led to flight disruptions at the city’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) on Monday, with more than 506 flights delayed and three cancelled. According to flightradar24, a Swedish internet-based service, while departing flights operated with a delay of around 46 minutes, arrival flights faced an average delay of six minutes.

A total of 153 arrival flights and 353 departure flights were delayed, while two arrival flights and one departure flight had to be cancelled.

Earlier in the day, Mumbai International Airport Pvt. Ltd. (MIAL) spokesperson had said, “The flights are running late by 25 to 30 minutes. [There are] no cancellations or diversions.”

An air traffic control official said rains, along with wind speed and low visibility led to flight delays throughout the day. “Runway visual range (RVR) equipment was in use so that flight operations are not halted due to poor visibility. However, no major issue was faced at the airport,” the official said.

An airport official said more than 50 flights were delayed between 12.30pm and 5.30pm. “Most of the flights were delayed from 1pm to 1.30pm. TruJet flight 2T518 to Nanded, that was supposed to take off at 1pm, could only depart by 4.22pm,” said the official.

Few of the arrival flights that were delayed are Air India’s AI 614 from Ahmedabad; GoAir’s G8 334 from Delhi; AI 865 from Delhi; SpiceJet’s SG 480 from Bhopal; IndiGo’s 6E 295 from Mangalore; and Vistara’s UK 776 from Kolkata. Most flight departures that were delayed included domestic destinations such as Delhi, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Nagpur, Udaipur, Mangalore, Coimbatore, Chandigarh, and international destinations such as Dubai and London, among others.

First Published: Jul 02, 2019 03:49 IST