Mumbai: People travelling to the city from New Delhi by air were subjected to much distress when several flights were delayed on Sunday by bad weather in the national capital. Airport authorities said 40 flights out of the Indira Gandhi International Airport were diverted.
Also affected were Delhi-bound passengers from Newark, USA. The United Airlines flight UA-82 they were travelling on was diverted to Mumbai, and passengers had to wait for five hours before they were allowed to deplane and accommodated during the delay period.
R.K. Jenamani, director-in-charge of meteorology at IGIA, said thunderstorms are a difficult phenomenon for the aviation industry across the world globe and usually rise in frequency in May and June in India. “On an average, we usually face 30-35 diversions in these two months. 2008 saw 83 diversions, but the storms were well-distributed. This year, we saw 38 diversions alone on May 23 and 40 diversions on May 29,” he said.
The United airlines flight was scheduled to land in New Delhi at 9.30 pm on Sunday, but was re-directed to Mumbai where it arrived at 10.30 pm. Passenger Sunil Kumar Singh, 42, said, “We did not receive any response from the staff for quite some time. By the time we left the aircraft, it was 3.15 am. They took our passports saying they would be returned when we board the next flight. Some passengers were missing bags. The experience was not good.”
United Airlines’ representatives remained unavailable for comment. A GVK Mumbai official, who declined to be named, said in accordance with Flight Duty Time Limitation, the crew requires adequate rest before they can be assigned. “Since it’s an international flight, they cannot change their crew and take off again, which generally happens in the case of domestic flights,” the official said.
31/05/16 Shivam Patel/The Hindu
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Also affected were Delhi-bound passengers from Newark, USA. The United Airlines flight UA-82 they were travelling on was diverted to Mumbai, and passengers had to wait for five hours before they were allowed to deplane and accommodated during the delay period.
R.K. Jenamani, director-in-charge of meteorology at IGIA, said thunderstorms are a difficult phenomenon for the aviation industry across the world globe and usually rise in frequency in May and June in India. “On an average, we usually face 30-35 diversions in these two months. 2008 saw 83 diversions, but the storms were well-distributed. This year, we saw 38 diversions alone on May 23 and 40 diversions on May 29,” he said.
The United airlines flight was scheduled to land in New Delhi at 9.30 pm on Sunday, but was re-directed to Mumbai where it arrived at 10.30 pm. Passenger Sunil Kumar Singh, 42, said, “We did not receive any response from the staff for quite some time. By the time we left the aircraft, it was 3.15 am. They took our passports saying they would be returned when we board the next flight. Some passengers were missing bags. The experience was not good.”
United Airlines’ representatives remained unavailable for comment. A GVK Mumbai official, who declined to be named, said in accordance with Flight Duty Time Limitation, the crew requires adequate rest before they can be assigned. “Since it’s an international flight, they cannot change their crew and take off again, which generally happens in the case of domestic flights,” the official said.
31/05/16 Shivam Patel/The Hindu
