As many as 462 flights that were scheduled to depart from Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport got delayed on Monday due to unfavourable weather conditions and the repair of one runway. This makes up for 70 per cent of the flights taking off from the airport, causing inconvenience to passengers. Besides, 50 per cent of the arriving flights were also delayed, according to the flight tracking website, Flightradar24.
Delhi airport issued three passenger advisories on Monday, informing passengers that airline operations might be delayed. “Due to shifting wind patterns in the vicinity of airport, certain airline operations may experience delays,” a post by the airport on Monday afternoon.
Air traffic flow management measures were put in place from 10.30 am to 6.30 pm and from 10.30 pm to 2.30 am Tuesday, “by Air Traffic Control authorities to ensure safe operations, in accordance with international and regulatory protocols, keeping passenger safety as the highest priority,” the posts said.
Delhi Airport had warned of unfavourable weather conditions throughout the week earlier. “We would like to inform you that, as per the forecast from India Meteorological Department, easterly winds are expected between 26th April and 4th May 2025. This change in wind patterns may potentially affect flight operations during this period,” the Delhi Airport wrote in a post on X on April 25.
When the easterly winds are in action, the airport can accept only 32 arrivals per hour; in contrast to 46 arrivals per hour during westerly winds.
A combination of factors, including the early onset of easterly winds and the commencement of upgradation work on a runway, led to massive delays at the Delhi airport in the previous week, the airport authorities said. The airport had planned its upgradation work on Runway 10/28, anticipating that the easterly winds would start after May 15 to make it capable of handling low-visibility operations from both sides. However, contrary to the prediction, the easterly winds started in mid-April.
Last week, airport authorities postponed the runway upgrade work to June and preponed the reopening of the runway to May, following mounting public criticism, including a public rebuke by Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on social media, over inconvenience faced by passengers due to flight delays and disruptions.
