By Delhi’s IGI Airport was flooded by heavy rain on Friday as the IMD issued a red alert, delaying more than 550 flights.
Palam recorded the heaviest rainfall in the city at 75.6mm, with Naraina, Janakpuri, Lodhi Road and Safdarjung also seeing substantial totals.
Ten aircraft were diverted amid the disruption, five to Jaipur, four to Lucknow, and one each to Ahmedabad and Chandigarh.
Waterlogging around Terminal 3 and the underpass connecting the airport to Vasant Kunj disrupted road traffic through the day.
IndiGo and Air India both advised passengers to check their flight status in advance and allow extra time given the slow road conditions.
More than 550 flights were delayed at IGI Airport during Friday’s disruption, according to Flightradar24 data cited by The Times of India.
IndiGo and Air India both issued advisories asking passengers to check their flight status before leaving for the airport and to allow extra time given slow road movement.
The IMD’s red alert signals the most severe warning level, reserved for extremely heavy rainfall expected to cause significant disruption to daily life and infrastructure.
Delhi has faced repeated bouts of airport disruption this monsoon season, with heavy rain periodically triggering diversions and delays at IGI in recent weeks.
IGI Airport is one of the busiest in the country, typically handling well over a thousand flight movements a day, meaning disruptions there tend to cascade across the wider domestic network.
Passengers travelling to and from Delhi in the coming days have been advised to monitor airline communications closely given the ongoing unsettled weather pattern.
Palam recorded the highest rainfall in Delhi at 75.6mm by late afternoon, while Naraina registered 54mm, Janakpuri 48.5mm, Lodhi Road 34.6mm and Safdarjung 32.6mm.
Five aircraft were redirected to Jaipur, four to Lucknow, and one each to Ahmedabad and Chandigarh as the airport struggled to handle the volume of traffic during the downpour.
Photo by Ravi Dwivedi, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
