Mumbai Rains delay flight operations by 45 to 60 minutes, 3 services diverted

NEW DELHI: Rains in Mumbai led to an average 45 minutes to 60 minutes delay in arrival and departure of all flights at the Mumbai airport and diversion of three flights to Ahmedabad and Vadodora.

A spokesperson for Mumbai airport said that the average flight delay is about 60 minutes and is set to increase further by the evening. “The delay is set to increase further by the evening as delay at one airport leads to a consequential delay across the network,” the spokesperson said.

Of the three diversions, one flight each of Indigo and Jet Airways had to be diverted to Ahmedabad, while a Go Air flight had to be sent to Vadodara. The airport spokesperson said that there were no cancellations as the visibility at the airport never go below the mandated 500 metres level.

“We had prepared the runway for rains and hence the operations were not impacted. Preparations include cleaning of drains and clearing of shrubs around the runway and checking of the runway,” she said.

Airlines informed passengers about the delay through Twitter that their flights out of Mumbai are delayed by about 30 minutes.

Jet informed its passengers about the diversions and delays: “Due to air traffic congestion and heavy rain in Mumbai, all arrivals and departures at Mumbai are delayed up to 30 mins,” it said in a tweet at about 1500 hours.

IndiGo also informed its passengers to check the flight timings before reaching the airport.

Delhi airport sources confirmed about the consequential delays but did not share any number on delays. “There are consequential delays due to Mumbai rains,” said an airport source.