Hyderabad: Five international and 11 domestic flights were diverted to Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA) here from Mumbai airport at early hours of Wednesday after a SpiceJet flight got stuck in the mud near the runway at Mumbai International Airport. These diversions altered the schedule of regular domestic flights from the RGIA. All domestic flights got delayed by at least 10 minutes to one hour, except one domestic flight (9W376) of SpiceJet from Hyderabad to Mumbai, which was delayed by four hours. Sources said with the sudden information passed by Civil Aviation that some flights from Mumbai airport would be diverted at 12.05 am on Wednesday, the GMR, including few airlines, directed the staff for continuation of shifts till all delayed flights depart from the RGIA. About 2,000 staff, including CISF and Customs, continued with their duties till 9 pm.
As forecast predicts more heavy rains in Mumbai on Thursday and Friday, the authorities of RGIA and airlines are taking similar measurements in clearing schedules and officials are expecting similar delay in domestic flights to various destinations from the RGIA. “As the Mumbai airport authorities allowed the second runway for international flights, flights diverted to RGIA began departing from 2 pm. Nearly, 3,200 passengers were there in all the 16 diverted flights,” they said.
