Chaos at IGI airport after Delhi storm grounds many flights, delays over 450

New Delhi: Hundreds of passengers waited for long hours at the Delhi airport on Saturday as more than 450 flights were delayed and many flights were cancelled due to congestion, with the situation starting to ease from afternoon onwards.

Chaotic scenes were witnessed at the airport with many passengers standing at some places inside the airport and waiting for updates on Friday evening and Saturday morning as the impact of flight disruptions due to inclement weather conditions persisted.

Many people took to social media to complain about the chaos and flight delays, and also shared pictures and videos of some places inside the airport being crowded.

Delhi airport operator DIAL put out multiple updates on social media platform X about flight operations, along with some pictures of waiting areas inside the airport.

In a post on X at 1919 hours, DIAL said flight operations at the airport are normal across all terminals.

At 1701 hours, it said flight operations at the airport are normal, but some airlines are still affected by last night's weather conditions. "Our teams are working hard to minimise inconvenience. Please check flight status on our website and airline websites for updates".

In a post at 1153 hours, DIAL said that due to last night's inclement weather significantly impacting the flight operations across the country, "we want to assure you that all airlines and stakeholders are working hard to minimise any inconvenience to passengers," it said.

Over 450 flights were delayed and the average delay for departing flights was around 50 minutes. Around 18 flights were cancelled, as per data from flight tracking website Flightradar24.com.

IndiGo, in a post on X at 1332 hours, said please expect a wait while flying to/from Delhi due to the ongoing air traffic congestion. "Ongoing air traffic congestion in Delhi is causing flights to be held for takeoff and landing clearance. Due to the consequential impact, a few flights across the network are impacted too," it said.

In a post on X at 1441 hours, Air India told passengers flying today to/from Delhi to expect potential disruptions due to heavy dusty winds forecast between 1730 and 2100 hours.

Similar weather conditions yesterday caused flight diversions and delays, with air traffic congestion continuing to affect operations into today, the airline said.

On Friday evening, flight operations at the airport were disrupted as the national capital witnessed inclement weather conditions, including dust storms.

In the morning, a social media user shared a video of many passengers seeking an update on their flight from an airline staff member inside the airport on X and said that there was chaos.

IGIA, which is the country's largest airport and handles around 1,300 flight movements daily, currently has three operational runways and one runway is temporarily closed for maintenance works.