Pahalgam terror attack: Mortal remains, late flight take off, an airport open for longer hours

New Delhi: On Wednesday, Surat airport remained operational for an extra one hour waiting for the landing of an Air India Express flight that took off more than an hour late from the national capital.

It was a scheduled flight from Delhi to Surat that was also carrying the mortal remains of one of the victims of the Pahalgam terror attack and five of his family members.

The flight delay was deliberate, rather a piece in a complex coordination exercise involving two rival airlines, IndiGo and Air India Express, as well as Delhi airport authorities, security teams, ground handlers, Airports Authority of India (AAI) and Air Traffic Controllers (ATCs).

A senior Air India Express official told PTI that seamless coordination happened within a few hours between various stakeholders which ensured that the five family members could reach Surat with the mortal remains on Wednesday late evening.

At least 26 people were killed in the terror attack in South Kashmir's Pahalgam on Tuesday and most of the dead bodies were flown from Srinagar to various destinations on Wednesday.

A few hours before boarding the IndiGo flight 6E 2268 from Srinagar to Delhi on Wednesday, the family members realised that the connecting IndiGo flight to Surat was to operate only on Thursday, which meant they would have to wait in the national capital a whole night with the mortal remains.

Knowing the predicament of the family members, people known to them reached out to Air India Express officials and what followed was a not-so-common coordination effort starting with the airline's decision to delay the departure of Air India Express flight IX 2750 from Delhi to Surat. The flight departed at around 9.40 pm, more than one hour late from its scheduled departure time.

Before the IndiGo flight landed at Terminal 1 of the Delhi airport at around 8.40 pm, the process of doing extensive paperwork, including cargo documentation, and getting security approvals were set in motion.

Thanks to ATC at the Delhi airport, the IndiGo flight was given priority landing and soon after, the mortal remains was transferred by airside to the Air India Express flight at Terminal 3, while the family members reached the terminal by road, according to the official.

T1 and T3 are a few kilometres apart.

As the Air India Express flight was preparing to take off, far away in Surat, on humanitarian grounds, officials decided to keep the airport open for an extra one hour till 12 am.

ATC watch hours or in simple terms, the maximum time for which the flight operations are allowed at Surat airport was 11 pm.

And at around 1130 pm, the Air India Express flight IX 2750 landed at Surat.

As the official put it, every stakeholder worked in unison and went beyond the call of duty to ensure a dignified and timely passage for the mortal remains and family members to reach their destination.