498 Flights Delayed, Over 40 Diverted in Storm Aftermath

Flight operations at Delhi's Indira Gandhi International (IGI) airport remained severely disrupted on Saturday as the impact of Friday evening's intense thunderstorm compounded ongoing problems caused by a runway closure that began earlier this week.

- Aheli Das and Neha LM Tripathi

According to flight tracking data from Flightradar24, at least 498 flights were delayed on Saturday till 7.20pm. An airport official confirmed that over 40 flights had been diverted since Friday evening and more than 300 flights were delayed.

The already challenging situation at the airport has been exacerbated by the planned closure of Runway 28/10 since April 9 for maintenance work. The airport operator had announced in February that the runway would be non-operational from April due to an upgrade to the Instrument Landing System (ILS). While this upgrade will eventually allow flights to operate in low-visibility conditions—a common issue during Delhi's winter fog, authorities and operators appear to have been unprepared to account for the challenges in running curtailed operations.

Social media platforms were flooded with complaints from frustrated passengers facing long delays, poor communication, and various inconveniences.

"20 min dust storm in Delhi, there's chaos everywhere. Because the airlines don't have a system of contingency planning... zero support, communication, basic facilities, nothing... It took 15 hours to retrieve my baggage," one user wrote.