Birds, bad weather shut down airport for 25 mins

New Delhi: The Indira Gandhi International Airport was closed for operations for nearly half-an-hour on Sunday morning due to presence of too many birds over its main runway. Bird activity was so high at the airport's runway 29/11 that flight operations had to be cancelled between 8.50 am and 9.15 am on Sunday. At least 20 arrivals and departures were delayed by one to two hours due to the backlog of flights that ensued.
The problem was first reported around 8.50 am when a JetLite Chennai-Delhi flight (S2-252) was approaching the runway of IGI Airport.
Due to heavy bird activity above the runway, the pilot was asked not to land by the Delhi air traffic control.
The runway was then closed for operations till 9.15 am when the birds were scared away from the runway.
With the main runway 28/10 closed for repairs, the only other runway available was the smaller runway 27/09 but due to poor visibility, this runway couldn't be used either.
When contacted, a spokesperson for the private airport operator Delhi International Airport Ltd. (DIAL) said, "There has been no bird activity at the Delhi Airport since morning."
02/08/10 Sidhartha Roy/Hindustan Times

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Categories: airports aug 2010