Flight ops north of Delhi see brief halt

The Airports Authority of India on Monday announced the resumption of civilian flight operations at 32 airports across northern and western India, but temporarily suspended flight operations north of Delhi after drones were spotted above some border districts.

- Neha LM Tripathi

NEW DELHI:

An IndiGo Delhi-Amritsar flight turned back to land in the capital. This was the first scheduled commercial flight to Amritsar since the airport reopened. The flight 6E 2045 took off at around 8.26 pm but landed back in the capital around 9.15 pm. Several other flights also rerouted to avoid the area. According to multiple AAI officials, a blackout in Amritsar, possibly due to suspected drone activity, led the diversion.

The airline issued a statement cancelling flights in several cities scheduled for Tuesday citing safety concerns.

Earlier in the day, a fresh Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) was issued for reopening the international flight routes, thus lifting the restrictions that were initially imposed till May 10 and then extended till 5.29 am on May 15.