Routine upkeep sends 225 flights for a toss
No flights again between 11am-5pm today; other airports elsewhere also hit by similar maintenance work
Around 225 flights were cancelled and many more were rescheduled after Mumbai airport was shut for six hours for pre-monsoon maintenance work between 11am and 5 pm on Monday. The disruption inconvenienced thousands of passengers.As a part of the ongoing maintenance work, flights will remain suspended during the corresponding period on Tuesday, too.
All passengers have been asked to contact their respective airlines for revised travel schedules. A spokesperson of Mumbai International Airport told the Free Press Journal that all airlines were given prior notice about the maintenance work to be carried out at the intersection of the runways.
Air India had cancelled at least 34 lights and rescheduled around half a dozen other services till Tuesday evening. Jet Airways cancelled at least 64 domestic and six international flights, Spicejet also cancelled around 70 services.More disruptions are likely in the coming days as various major airports elsewhere also have similar maintenance schedules. While Chandigarh Airport runway will be closed from May 12-31, Ahmedabad Airport runway is shut down daily from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. and this will continue till April 15. Calicut Airport runway is also under maintenance from March 25 to June 15 and remains closed daily from 12 noon to 8 p.m. Jaipur Airport runway is closed daily from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m.
Lucknow Airport runway is also under repairs and the disruption will continue till June 30.
Mumbai airport is the busiest airport in terms of aircraft handled with an average 900 scheduled landings and take-offs every day. Mumbai Airport at present has only one operational runway. Chief economist of CARE Ratings Madan Sabnavis said, “The shutdown of the main runway will inconvenience many airlines and cause them losses. This shutdown has no impact on the finances of the airport. However, the delays start a chain. If 3 to 4 flights take off late, then these will land late and if flights cannot land on time, fuel is wasted in case the aircraft has to fly for hours around the airport, before it lands. Maintenance is part of the cycle but such repair work will only impact those who not have a second runway."