50 flights delayed by nearly 1-hr at Mumbai airport

Over 50 flights of various airlines were delayed by around an hour at the Mumbai Airport following the authorities' failure to resume flight operations at the scheduled time of 6 pm.

Over 50 flights of various airlines were delayed by around an hour at the Mumbai Airport following the authorities' failure to resume flight operations at the scheduled time of 6 pm.

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Some flights were also diverted to neighbouring airports such as Pune and Ahmedabad, airport sources said. Operations at the main runway at Mumbai Airport remain closed every Tuesday between 12 noon and 6 pm in the wake of runway re-construction work which is scheduled to be completed by March next year.

A shortened runway--almost half the length of the 3,448-metre main runway--is used during this period. Only small aircraft can land and take-off during this time.

"The flight operations from the main runway resumed after an hour of the scheduled time of 6 pm, leading to considerable delays," sources said.

Consequently, some 50 flights were delayed by around an hour, they said. Earlier in the day, the city's airport was shut for over 45 minutes after tail-winds posed problems in aircraft operations.