A powerful dust storm accompanied by gusty winds threw flight operations into disarray at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport on Friday evening, causing major travel disruptions and stranding hundreds of passengers.
According to airport authorities, at least 205 flights were delayed and over 50 were diverted due to the sudden weather disturbance. On average, flights were delayed by nearly one hour, creating severe overcrowding and confusion in the terminal.
Frustrated passengers flooded social media with complaints, sharing their anger over poor communication and long waiting hours. “After the dust storm, several flights were either diverted or cancelled, resulting in significant delays. This caused immense inconvenience to passengers waiting at the Delhi airport. The diverted flights took hours to return, adding to the congestion,” an airport official told.
One of the most severely affected flights was an Air India service from Srinagar to Mumbai via Delhi, which was diverted to Chandigarh. Passengers, including a 75-year-old woman in a wheelchair, were stranded for over 12 hours, with the flight only returning to Delhi by 11 PM.
The chaos not only disrupted schedules but also exposed vulnerabilities in handling large-scale weather-related emergencies at one of India’s busiest airports.
Officials said normal operations resumed later in the night, and efforts are underway to accommodate affected passengers and reschedule missed connections.
(This story is published from a syndicated feed)