New Delhi: Seven flights, including an
international one, were today diverted and around 12 others
delayed due to restrictions at the IGI airport here for Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh`s departure to Srinagar.
Six domestic flights -- three from Mumbai, one each from
Bangalore, Chennai and Lucknow -- were diverted to Jaipur
airport, while a Thai Airways flight (TG-323) from Bangkok was
diverted to Amritsar airport as Delhi`s airspace witnessed
congestion due to the scheduled departure of Prime Minister`s
plane to Srinagar between 10 am and 11 am, sources said.
Singh, who went to Srinagar on a two-day visit, was
scheduled to leave at around 10 am but his plane finally
took-off around 10.40 am from second runway.
Due to security reasons, flight movements are prohibited
about three to five minutes before the scheduled departure or
arrival of VIP aircraft.
During this, only one runway was in use for arrival and
departure. As a result, over a dozen flights arriving or
departing from here got delayed as Delhi`s airspace witnessed
congestion, they said.
"Due to use of only one runway, over a dozen domestic
flights were delayed by half-an-hour to an hour," sources
said.
The flights which were diverted to Jaipur arrived here
after a delay of over two hours.
GoAir flight from Mumbai (G8-172) scheduled to arrive
here at 10 am arrived around 12 noon. Jet Airways flight
(9W-804) from Bangalore reached here around 12.20 p.m. Jetlite
flight from Mumbai (S2-6172) arrived around 1 pm. Kingfisher
flights from Lucknow (IT-3654) reached Delhi at 12.45 pm and
from Mumbai (IT-300) reached around 1.05 p.m. IndiGo flight
from Chennai (6E 194) arrived Delhi at 12.30 pm.
The Thai Airways flight, which was diverted to Amritsar,
arrived here at around 1.40 pm, the sources said.
PTI
