Mumbai: Flight operations at the city airport were delayed by up to 45 minutes and three services had to be diverted due to incessant rain that has been lashing the financial capital since late last evening.
“The airport is operational but the flights are delayed by 45 minutes,” a spokesperson for the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA) said.
Low-cost carrier Indigo's flight 6E445 coming from Lucknow and Jet Airways' 9W466 which had taken off from Chennai for the city, had to be diverted to Ahmedabad, while a Go Air flight (G8334) from Delhi had to be sent to Vadodara, she said.
Apart from that, there were four flights which had to do a “go around” before landing at the airport, the spokesperson said.
The delays are due to “ATC congestion” as the rain has affected flight timings.As for the visibility, the spokesperson said, it is at a comfortable 800-1,000 metres at present which can support flight operations.
A visibility of less than 500 metres can affect flight operations, she said.The CSIA, which includes both the domestic as well as international terminals, is one of the busiest airport's in the country as it serves the financial capital.
The heavy downpour since last evening has crippled the city's transport systems, including the suburban rail which is the famed lifeline of the city, and resulted in huge traffic snarls on the roads. The newly-built Metro's operations have not been affected so much by the rains.
