No major flight delays on third day of 6-hour airport shutdown

MUMBAI: There were no major flight delays on the third day of the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA)’S six-hour shutdown.

Out of the total planned 230 flight cancellations in the day, 33 were between Mumbai and Delhi, the country’s busiest air route. Normally, 100 flights operate daily between the two cities. Jet Airways said it was forced to cancel 45 departing flights including five international flights from Mumbai. Indigo has cancelled 30 of its 103 daily flights during the days of shutdown.

Maintenance work on the runways at CSMIA will require the shutdown of the airport between 11am and 5pm on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays till March 31.

Airport officials said there were no major delays after the runway was opened at 5pm. Flightradar24- a Swedish internet-based service that shows real-time commercial aircraft flight information on a map, stated there was a minimum delay of 20 minutes (which is routine at Mumbai airport due to single runway operation). It, however, said 31 arriving and 119

departing flights were delayed throughout the day (till 8pm).

Airport officials said there are no major disruptions because of advance planning.

The airport has two cross runways that on average handle 950

aircraft daily. The main runway (09-27) handles maximum flight operations, while the secondary runway (less efficient than the main runway) is used when the main runway is not available for flight operations.