Many stranded at Mumbai as nine airports shut in north India

Stranded passengers queue up at airline counters following the shut down of airspace for commercial flights north of Delhi. Pic/AFP

Following the shutdown of several airports in north India for civilian traffic, flights departing from Mumbai to Chandigarh, Amritsar, Jammu and Kashmir and Dehradun were cancelled, leaving many passengers stranded at the domestic airport on Wednesday morning.

While some fliers were informed of the cancelled flights upon reaching the airport, others found out only after checking in. Vyas Bhandari, 34, a Bandra resident, was all set to fly to Chandigarh and had reached the domestic airport at 11:30 am on Wednesday. "The Jet Airways flight was supposed to take off at 12:35 pm. After checking in, the boarding time was rescheduled to 2 pm and we were later informed that the flight has been cancelled," he said.

Bhandari added that while he was travelling for personal reasons, many passengers had professional or educational purposes of travel. One of his fellow passengers, for instance, was a Std XII student appearing for her board exams and had to reach Chandigarh urgently. An official of the airport security team said that flights to Chandigarh, Amritsar and Jammu and Kashmir take off in the morning hours and thus many people learnt of the cancellations only after reaching the airport.

"There was a crowd at the airport entrance this morning as people tried to figure out alternatives. Those in an emergency situation opted to fly to New Delhi," said the official.

Airport officials further said that 16 flights (eight arrivals and eight departures) were cancelled on Wednesday. "Flights of eight connections of Indigo, Air India, Jet Airways, Go Air, Vistara were cancelled. The operations are now normal and flights will resume from tomorrow," added the Mumbai airport spokesperson.

Jet wants flight-duty norms relaxed
Jet Airways has sought relaxation in flight duty and rest-hour norms from the regulator DGCA due to the closure of the Pakistani airspace and subsequent rerouting of the West-bound flights amid escalation of tension.

'Operations at nine airports resumed'
Aviation watchdog DGCA said operations at the nine airports in Srinagar, Jammu, Leh, Pathankot, Amritsar, Shimla, Kangra, Kullu Manali and Pithoragarh, which were shut earlier in the day, have resumed "as of now".

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