Nearly 40 international and domestic flights had been diverted from the Delhi airport till about 2 A.M. The flights could not land in Delhi and this included the Prime Minister’s aircraft. These flights were sent to other nearby airports as the National capital was shrouded in bad weather .Last night saw several passengers at the IGI airport looking for a way out, as they had been stranded at Delhi due to turbulent weather conditions, last night.
PM Modi , was away to address a public meeting in Devangere, Karnataka, but due to nasty weather conditions, PM Narendra Modi’s flight was forced to land in Jaipur as it had to be diverted from the capital, because of bad weather. Around 9 P.M. Delhi was flushed with light rains, and then it was accompanied by dust storms and squalls.
The MeT department has stated “Light rains hit the capital city at around 9 PM. A dust storm blowing at a speed of 92 km per hour hit Palam observatory, while it hit Safdarjung at a speed of 52 km per hour.” The airport authorities have confirmed that the flights had to be redirected to Jaipur and Lucknow. According to the Air India, the National carrier tweeted , “Due to bad weather over @Delhi_Airport all departures are put on hold. #AI539 MAA (Chennai)-DEL diverted to #LKO & #AI115 ATQ (Amritsar)-DEL diverted to #JAI.”
Even on the 23rd of May, more than 20 flights that were headed for Delhi had to be rerouted because of similar dust storms and rainy conditions in the city. On the 24th of May, after evaluating the weather conditions of 23rd, the airlines had approached the Civil Aviation Ministry, requesting for timely weather updates that can be provided “well in advance”, because more than 22 flights had to reschedule their movements at the last minute.
A meeting of executives from airport operators and domestic airlines was organized, and they discussed weather forecast system besides all other issues. The airlines requested for a system where they could obtain proper clarity about “weather conditions well in advance” so that they could prevent any kind of disruptions in the planned flight schedules, well in time.
