97 flights cancelled, 150 delayed at Delhi airport
At least 97 flights were cancelled and over 150 were delayed in Delhi on Sunday as the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport continued to reel from the closure of 32 airports in western and northern states of India due to ongoing hostilities with Pakistan, even as an agreement to stop all military action was reached on Saturday.
According to airport data, 96 of the 97 flights were domestic, and of these 44 were arrivals and 52 were departures. The other one was the only international flight, to Tel Aviv in Israel, to be cancelled.
'The flights impacted included 44 arrivals and 52 departures. Only one International flight was cancelled, which was flight AI-139 – to Tel Aviv,' said an airport official aware of the matter.
According to flight tracking website FlightRadar, over 150 flights were also delayed on Sunday, with an average delay time of 15 minutes. A day earlier, 60 flights were cancelled and over 200 were delayed.
On Sunday, as many as 32 airports were shut across the country due to security reasons. These are airports primarily in the north, northwest and the western part of the country, close to the Pakistan border. The closure will be effective from 'May 9, 2025, to May 14, 2025 (which corresponds to 0529 IST on 15th May 2025), due to operational reasons,' the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said in a release on Saturday.
The Delhi airport is the biggest one still operational in northwest India. Airports in a few nearby cities, such as Dehradun, Lucknow, and Jaipur, among others, are also functioning as of now.
Meanwhile, security continued to remain high at the Delhi airport, with additional checks being carried out for each passenger. Airlines have also been urging passengers to reach the airport at least three hours before their scheduled time of departure.
Ramping up safeguards at the existing airports on Thursday night, the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) instructed operational airports to increase security and carry out additional checks. This includes secondary ladder point checking (SLPC) at all airports—which translates to an additional set of security checks of a passenger and their baggage before boarding. Further, the entry of visitors to terminals was stopped and additional security checks of vehicles and passengers outside the terminal will also be carried out, it had said.
In an advisory on Sunday, the Delhi airport said, 'Delhi airport is operating normally. However, due to changes in airspace dynamics and increased security measures, some flight schedules and security checkpoint processing times may be affected.'
On Saturday, the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) said it was mandated by BCAS to provide additional security at airports in the country, including Delhi. This additional security included cover to cargo operations and the In-line Hold Baggage Screening System (ILHBSS).
Ajay Dahiya, DIG (chief PRO), CISF, said they had responded immediately and resumed oversight over cargo and baggage operations. 'CISF will oversee operations and the Security staff of airport operators for ILHBSS. The directives also authorise CISF personnel to perform random checks and oversee access control to these critical facilities,' he said.
Prior to this directive, CISF's deployment as the primary aviation security force did not explicitly extend to the direct security and screening of cargo operations and the ILHBSS.
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