Amid heavy rains, five Mumbai-bound flights diverted to nearby airports

Mumbai, As many as five Mumbai-bound flights, including three operated by IndiGo and two by Air India, were diverted to nearby airports on Saturday due to unstable approaches, heavy rain and low visibility, a source at Mumbai international airport said.

Besides, pilots of 17 other flights also carried out diversions, the source said.

Of the five diverted flights, four later returned to Mumbai, their original destination, the source said.


According to the source, two of the three flights -- IndiGo flight 6E 594 (Raipur-Mumbai), 6E 6544 (Varanasi-Mumbai) and 6E 6283 (Bengaluru-Mumbai) -- were diverted to Surat airport, while one was diverted to Ahmedabad.

Similarly, Air India flights AI 2963 (Delhi-Mumbai) and AI472 (Chandigarh-Mumbai) were diverted to Surat and Manohar International Airport in Goa, respectively, the source said.

Torrential downpours battered Mumbai on Saturday, with several parts of the city receiving nearly 200 mm of rains in 12 hours, inundating low-lying areas, triggering road cave-ins, tree falls and house collapses, and disrupting road and rail traffic.