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Downpour stalls repair of runway
Heavy rain on Friday led to repair work on the main runway of the city’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) being cancelled for the day.
Heavy rain on Friday led to repair work on the main runway of the city’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) being cancelled for the day.
With repair work temporarily suspended, flights operated on the main runway instead of the secondary runway.
The spokesperson for Mumbai International Airport Ltd (MIAL), the operator of CSMIA, said flight operations were not affected.
Swedish, internet- based service flightradar24 showed that till 7pm, 281 departing flights were delayed while arrivals were mostly unaffected.
An airport official said, “Flight departures were briefly affected in the morning, due to which departing flights were delayed for around 40 minutes. However, operations were normal by noon.”
CSMIA is the second busiest airport in the country after Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport. It handles around 50 arrivals and departures every hour, and over 900 movements per day. The airport has two intersecting runways – 09-27 is the main runway, and 14-32 is the secondary, less efficient runway.
The main runway has been undergoing rehabilitation and re-carpeting work since November 4.
Till March 28, 2020, the runway will be closed from 9.30am to 5.30pm, from Monday to Saturday.
