Heavy Rain and Strong Winds Disrupt Flight Operations at Mumbai Airport
Flight operations at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) in Mumbai were severely disrupted on Sunday after heavy rains and strong gusty winds forced authorities to temporarily suspend runway operations. The adverse weather conditions led to the suspension of all aircraft movements for exactly one hour between 10:17 am and 11:17 am, making the Mumbai airport the most disrupted airport in the world on that day.
A spokesperson for Mumbai International Airport Ltd (MIAL) confirmed that the runway operations were temporarily suspended as a safety procedure due to reduced visibility and strong gusty winds of up to 42 knots. The suspension aimed to ensure the safety of passengers, aircraft, and ground personnel. Normal runway operations resumed once the weather conditions improved.
The one-hour suspension caused a massive gridlock, resulting in the delay of 334 flights, which accounted for approximately 39 percent of the airport's total daily movements on Sunday. Additionally, 22 flights were cancelled, representing about three percent of the daily schedule.
Departures bore the brunt of the disruption, with 223 outbound flights held at the gates or on taxiways. Meanwhile, 111 arriving flights faced extensive airborne holding patterns or delays. The average delay across the board climbed to well over 50 minutes, with some departing passengers waiting on the tarmac for over an hour and a half.
A total of 13 flights were diverted to neighbouring airports, such as Surat and Ahmedabad, before being cleared to return to Mumbai later in the day. Four IndiGo flights to and from Delhi and Indore were among those cancelled due to the suspension of operations.
Domestic carriers, including IndiGo, Air India, and Akasa Air, issued urgent travel advisories early in the afternoon. They warned passengers of a domino effect hitting flight schedules across the country, particularly on the dense Delhi-Mumbai trunk route, which was simultaneously battling bad weather in the national capital.
