Mumbai airport closed for two hours on Wednesday (2.15pm to 4pm) because of repairs on the main runway, resulting in delays.
The Mumbai airport closed for two hours on Wednesday between 2.15pm to 4pm because of repairs on the main runway. Mumbai International Airport Limited officials claimed it was regular maintenance work, but sources told DNA that Tuesday’s rains caused a lot of damage.
The repairs resulted in diversions and delays of minimum two hours for every flight. The maximum delay was six hours and average delay was three hours.
“The main reason for delays was diversions. A few flights were diverted twice,” said airport officials. Flights of Jet Airways, Indian Airlines and Air India were diverted. Around nine flights were diverted to Ahmedabad and Vadodara. There were 15 cancellations.
The airlines complained they had to wait more than 30 minutes to get clearance for one flight from the Air Traffic Control (ATC). ATC officials said the aircraft had lined up as soon as the main runway was opened, which led to congestion. “We can clear one landing/take-off at a time, which takes 90 seconds,” an ATC official said.
Though the secondary runway was available, poor visibility hindered aircraft movement. The average visibility was 1,500m as against the required 1,800m on the secondary runway. The visibility on Wednesday went down to 300m.
Passengers come before time to avoid missing flights. Shyam Sharma, a doctor, left his house in Mira Road at 8.15am. He reached well before time, but found the flight delayed by four hours. “I was worried about missing the flight. But here I find that it is delayed,” said an anguished Sharma.
Goa-bound UK citizen Glen Robinson lost £1,000 (Rs84,000 approx) as his flight was cancelled. An agitated Robinson said, “There was no intimation.”
Airlines say they were informed only 30 minutes prior to the main runway closure. “We decided we will close the main runway for repairs at 1pm,” a MIAL official said.
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