Over 40 flights diverted at Delhi airport due to dust storm

Flight operations to and from the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport here was majorly hit today as a dust storm hit the city in the evening, with sources at the airport confirming over 40 diversions and more than two dozen delays.

The operations of almost all the airlines -- domestic and international -- were affected as the runway had to be closed down and the flight services suspended for a while, the sources said.

The airlines informed the passengers about the delays and diversions on Twitter.

Dozens of flights were diverted to cities such as Jaipur, Amritsar and Lucknow, the sources said.

Vistara said its Delhi-bound flights from Srinagar, Lucknow, Bhubaneswar, Mumbai and Goa were diverted.

"Till about 7.15 PM, over 40 diversions were reported. There could be over two dozen delays," a source said.

International flights from Katmandu, Riyadh, Colombo, Jeddah, Kabul were delayed even as flights from Tokyo, Newark and Colombo were diverted to other places, the sources said.