Rains hit Mumbai airport operations with runway closures, diversions

Mumbai, July 25: Heavy rains in Mumbai on Thursday hit normal operations at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) with runway suspensions and flight diversions or cancellations, officials said. Following adverse weather conditions, the CSMIA runway was closed from 8.32 a.m. to 8.43 a.m. (11 minutes) and again from 10.36 a.m. to 10.55 a.m. (19 minutes).

The reasons were adverse weather in heavy rains with low visibility of between 300-500 metres. This led to the cancellations of at least five arrivals plus five cancellations of departing IndiGo flights, besides one outgoing flight of Air India.

At least 10 other flights were diverted to places like Ahmedabad, Surat, Hyderabad, Indore, and Goa (MOPA), but all returned to Mumbai later in the evening as the weather conditions improved.