Isolated rain at IGI disrupts air traffic

New Delhi: The rest of the city might have remained either dry or saw only a slight drizzle but a heavy downpour at IGI airport on Friday morning disrupted aircraft movement and led to the diversion of eight flights. Several other flights were delayed by 30 minutes to an hour; for about 25 minutes, there were no arrivals.
Airport officials said that between 9.50am and 10.15am, the wind was so strong that several aircraft were forced to hold over the airport. "The weather turned suddenly and there were heavy showers and very strong winds. For about 20 minutes, no arrivals were possible and several aircraft were forced to hold over the city in wait of more stable weather conditions. Even departures were affected. This was peak time for domestic arrivals and, hence, schedules were hit significantly," said an official.
The clouds came in from the Dwarka side of the new runway and moved eastwards. "Frequent changes in wind direction and speed also caused problems as runway usage depends largely on wind direction. Flights would be lined up to land from one direction but the wind would change in a few minutes and the entire line-up would have to be changed," said a source. The weather conditions were highly localized as most nearby areas did not experience any rainfall.
16/07/11 Times of India

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Categories: Airports Jul 2011