Three flights to Delhi grounded

Tribune News Service

Mohali, January 16

Due to airspace restrictions at Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi in view of the Republic Day rehearsals, airline operators at the Chandigarh airport grounded three flights between Delhi and Chandigarh and rescheduled two more domestic flights.

According to a NOTAM (notice to airmen) issued to the airport authorities, no commercial flights will be allowed to take off or land at the Delhi airport from 10.35 am to 12.15 pm for seven days between January 18 and 26. Airline operators Air India, Vistara and Jet Airways curtailed their operations, cancelling one flight each to Delhi due to the airspace restrictions.

In a statement, CHIAL (Chandigarh International Airports Limited) PRO Deepesh Joshi said, “Due to  NOTAM at Delhi for the Republic Day celebrations, Air India flight to Delhi (AI 463/464), Vistara flight to Delhi (UK 731/732) and Jet Airways flight to Delhi (9W 2665/2666) stand cancelled on January 18, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24 and 26.”

SpiceJet’s Delhi-Chandigarh-Srinagar flight (SG 130) has been rescheduled and will arrive at the airport at 10.45 am, 45 minutes before its actual departure time, and depart at noon on the mentioned dates. Jet Airways flight to Delhi (9W 2651/2658) will depart one hour late at noon, instead of 11 am, during these days.

Joshi said there was no change in the timing of Indigo’s Dubai-Chandigarh-Delhi flight, which departs at 12.05 pm. Airport officials said Go Air flight to Mumbai at 1.20 pm would also stay cancelled on the Republic Day.

NOTAM would mean that operations, already curtailed due to a change in the watch hours, would be limited to only a few hours. With fog grounding several flights in the morning and NOTAM between 10.30 am and 12.15 pm, the airport would remain open effectively for four hours, causing inconvenience to passengers.