Our Terms & Conditions | Our Privacy Policy
The New Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) in Delhi is grappling with massive flight disruptions, with over 500 flights delayed and dozens diverted over the past week. The chaos is being driven by a combination of infrastructure upgrades and challenging weather conditions.
Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) began an upgrade of Runway 10/28 earlier this month to enhance its Instrument Landing System (ILS) capabilities. This crucial runway, which had remained closed for an extended period, is expected to reopen in early May, providing much-needed relief to the ongoing congestion.
Get Latest Mathrubhumi Updates in English
With one of the airport’s main runways temporarily out of service, capacity dropped, increasing operational pressure on the remaining three. In response to the severe disruption and rising passenger complaints, DIAL has paused the upgrade and rescheduled the remaining work for a later phase in May.
Delhi’s notoriously volatile weather has worsened the situation. Strong winds and recent thunderstorms have caused significant disruptions to both arrivals and departures. On Sunday alone, 60% of incoming and 76% of outgoing flights were delayed. During a thunderstorm on April 12, nearly 500 flights were delayed and over 40 were diverted.
Stranded passengers and crew fatigue
Social media has been abuzz with reports from frustrated travellers, citing poor communication and extended waiting times. Some passengers also highlighted the stress faced by airline staff and flight crews, many of whom were on duty well beyond scheduled hours due to cascading delays.
DIAL clarified that the runway work had been planned months in advance in consultation with airlines, and it had issued advisories for carriers to adjust schedules accordingly. However, the scale of delays suggests a gap between planning and actual traffic handling capacity.
Delhi Airport handled over 78 million passengers in 2024, making it the ninth-busiest airport in the world. The current disruptions serve as a stark reminder of the growing pressure on India’s aviation infrastructure amid post-pandemic demand recovery. To ease long-term congestion, authorities are considering developing new airports for metropolitan hubs like Delhi and Mumbai.
The dual impact of runway upgrades and adverse weather has put Delhi’s aviation operations under the microscope. With Runway 10/28 set to reopen in early May, stakeholders are hoping for a quick return to normalcy. The situation highlights an urgent need for resilient planning, better contingency management, and investment in aviation infrastructure to keep pace with India’s booming air traffic.
[ad_1]
Images are for reference only.Images and contents gathered automatic from google or 3rd party sources.All rights on the images and contents are with their legal original owners.
Aggregated From –
[ad_2]
Comments are closed.