NEW DELHI: The intense storm and heavy rain that lashed Delhi on Thursday afternoon led to the diversion of 11 incoming flights, including three international services, to neighbouring airports. The disruption lasted for nearly two hours and had a cascading effect on flight operations, causing delays that continued until late at night.
According to an airport source, “Four flights each were diverted to Jaipur and Lucknow, while three flights were diverted to Chandigarh. Three of them were international ones.”
The source added, “Due to heavy rains in the afternoon, the pilots of 13 flights were executing a go-around within the airport area as the weather conditions were not conducive for landing. A few flights made repeated attempts to land but did not succeed. Finally, two of them landed safely.”
According to the Flightradar24 website, the diverted international flights included Oman Air flight WY 245 from Muscat, which was diverted to Jaipur, and two IndiGo flights -- 6E 1064 from Bangkok, diverted to Lucknow, and 6E 1074 from Phuket, diverted to Jaipur. The destination of a diverted Hong Kong Air Cargo flight was not immediately clear.
The diversions began at 1.50 pm and continued until 3.55 pm.
Among domestic services, an Akasa Air flight (QP 1814) from Goa was diverted to Lucknow. Five IndiGo flights were also affected: 6E 2348 from Prayagraj was diverted to Chandigarh, 6E 6358 from Kolkata to Jaipur, 6E 2356 from Jammu to Chandigarh, 6E 6560 from Purnea to Lucknow, and 6E 6431 from Pune to Chandigarh.
Two Air India flights were diverted as well. Flight AI 2419 from Mumbai was sent to Lucknow, while flight AI 422 from Amritsar was diverted to Jaipur.
An Air India source confirmed the diversion of its flights, while an Akasa Air spokesperson confirmed that one of its flights had been diverted. IndiGo did not respond to multiple requests for comment, while SpiceJet said none of its flights were affected.
