Mumbai airport runway to be shut for 6 hours on Monday & Tuesday, over 100 flights cancelled
The runway will be closed between 11 am to 5 pm on Monday and Tuesday (Representational Image. Courtesy: philstar.com)
The main runway of Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport will be closed for six hours on Monday and Tuesday, resulting in the cancellation of over 100 flights and inconveniencing thousands of flyers.
The runway will be closed between 11 am to 5 pm on both the days and passengers travelling during the respective time slots have been advised to check with airlines to know about the rescheduled flights or timings.
During the closure, airport authorities will carry out scheduled pre-monsoon maintenance work, like removing rubber deposits on the runway.
According to sources, all airlines were intimated on the development a long time back and no flights will be scheduled during the affected time period.
Although Mumbai airport has a secondary runway, it intersects with the main one because of which the only one can be used at a time. Since the maintenance work is at the intersection, no alternate runway will be available during the period.
Owing to this, Air India (AI) has has cancelled 34 flights, while it has rescheduled eight of its flights, all domestic-bound.
“Due to maintenance activities to the runway at Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, the runway will be closed on April 9, 2018 and April 10, 2018 from 1100 hrs to 1700 hrs. Passengers planning their travel during this period are requested to allow for sufficient time, in case of delays, while making their bookings,” Air India said in a statement.
For Jet Airways, 64 domestic and six international-bound flights were cancelled. It has rescheduled 53 domestic and 17 international flights respectively. SpiceJet too has cancelled 18 flights.
Mumbai is the country’s busiest single runway airport, handling well over its capacity of 40 million passengers.
According to Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL), the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport handled around 980 flights in a single day in January 2018, bettering its earlier record of 974 flights.
