Adverse weather conditions, including thunderstorms, rain and strong wind shear, disrupted flight operations at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) through the night, leading to 29 flight diversions and multiple missed approaches, officials aware of the matter said.
Airport authorities had issued an aerodrome warning between 9.30pm and 11.30pm on May 3, cautioning of surface winds gusting between 15 and 25 knots, accompanied by moderate thunderstorms and rain.
“At around 10.30pm, Delhi airport shifted to easterly mode of operations as heavy weather intensified in and around the capital. As a result, arrivals and departures capacity was reduced due to weather conditions along approach and take-off paths,” an official said.
“By 10.55pm, wind shear and poor weather conditions led to missed approaches from both runways 10 and 11L,” a second official said. “Between 10.55pm and 11.15pm, five missed approaches were reported in easterly mode,” he added.
The airport switched operations to westerly mode at around 11.20pm.
“Five missed approaches were reported between 11.40pm and 11.50pm due to strong wind shear,” the second official said.
“Air traffic flow management measures were imposed at 11pm to regulate arrivals because of severe weather and congestion, and were withdrawn at 12.40am, when priority was given to diverted flights returning to Delhi,” an airport official said.
“A total of 29 flights were diverted during the night, including six international and 23 domestic flights. Of these, 17 had returned and landed in Delhi by the morning, while as of 7am, 12 were yet to return. These included eight from Lucknow, three from Jaipur and one from Amritsar,” he said.
At least 12 flights missed their approaches due to bad weather, he added.
Due to the adverse conditions, Jaipur airport temporarily stopped accepting diversions at 2.20am, before resuming operations at 3.30am.
“The situation improved in the morning and the airport changed back to easterly mode at 5.20am,” another airport official said.
According to Flightradar24, a website that tracks live flight movements, 246 flights were delayed since midnight. Departures continued to face delays of 30 to 49 minutes even at around 7am.
“This is because severe weather conditions were still prevailing in and around Delhi in the morning, with arrivals and departures continuing to face operational difficulties. The aerodrome warning was extended till 8.30am today,” the official added.