GMR faces govt wrath for Delhi airport flooding

Domestic carriers were forced to reschedule flights after the security area of Delhi airport's newly-opened departure terminal (T1D) was flooded after part of the roof collapsed under the impact of heavy rains that also closed the airport for an hour.

This is the second time the departure terminal was flooded due to sudden rains, the first time being last month.

Sources in the ministry say that government will take action against the Bangalore-based GMR group, which owns 54 per cent in the consortium that operates Delhi International Airport Pvt Ltd (DIAL), for the flooding at IGI Airport.

With visibility at the airport down to 100 metres, DIAL said 20 flights departing Delhi were delayed by one to two hours and 10 flights approaching Delhi were diverted. A spokesperson said: “Check-in and boarding were affected for 45 minutes before resumption of services." He added that 12 gates had been re-opened and passengers were being "facilitated to keep them comfortable".

Airlines, however, had a different story. They said 60 to 70 per cent of the flights between 4 pm and 6 pm were delayed, since boarding aircraft became impossible after the security area was flooded and baggage X-ray machines failed.

"We have not cancelled flights but there was a delay in boarding flights due to flooding of the security area," said Aditya Ghosh, CEO of IndiGo, the low-cost carrier.

SpiceJet CEO Sanjay Aggarwal added, “Part of the ceiling of the terminal blew up and there was water. Our flights have been delayed and at least one flight during that time had to be diverted instead of landing in Delhi.” A spokesperson of Jet Airways, India's largest private carrier, said eight of their flights were delayed and four diverted.

Although state-owned Air India does not operate from T1D (it has its own terminal), company executives said the closure of the airport for over an hour and 15 minutes caused heavy congestion. “All our flights were delayed by half an hour to an hour. Also, because of waterlogging in the city, people reported late and we decided not to close our check-in counters half an hour before take-off," said an Air India official, adding that the airline also accommodated passengers who arrived just 10 minutes before departure.

A Kingfisher Airlines spokesperson said the airline had to divert three inbound flights and all outbound flights were delayed by 90 minutes to two hours.

“Between 5:30 pm and 6:30 pm, Delhi airport authorities advised airlines not to board any flights,” the spokesperson added.