550+ flights delayed as Delhi red alert rain hits IGI Airport

More than 550 flights faced delays at IGI Airport on Friday after a red alert rain spell hit Delhi.

Palam saw the city’s highest rainfall total at 75.6mm, with Naraina, Janakpuri, Lodhi Road and Safdarjung also recording heavy downpours.

Ten flights were diverted during the disruption, with five sent to Jaipur, four to Lucknow, and one each to Ahmedabad and Chandigarh.

Flooding around Terminal 3 and the Vasant Kunj underpass slowed access to the airport, adding to the day’s travel woes.

IndiGo and Air India issued advisories urging passengers to check flight status before heading out and to allow for slower road travel.

IndiGo and Air India both issued advisories asking passengers to check their flight status before leaving for the airport and to allow extra time given slow road movement.

The IMD’s red alert signals the most severe warning level, reserved for extremely heavy rainfall expected to cause significant disruption to daily life and infrastructure.

Delhi has faced repeated bouts of airport disruption this monsoon season, with heavy rain periodically triggering diversions and delays at IGI in recent weeks.

IGI Airport is one of the busiest in the country, typically handling well over a thousand flight movements a day, meaning disruptions there tend to cascade across the wider domestic network.

Passengers travelling to and from Delhi in the coming days have been advised to monitor airline communications closely given the ongoing unsettled weather pattern.

Palam recorded the highest rainfall in Delhi at 75.6mm by late afternoon, while Naraina registered 54mm, Janakpuri 48.5mm, Lodhi Road 34.6mm and Safdarjung 32.6mm.

Five aircraft were redirected to Jaipur, four to Lucknow, and one each to Ahmedabad and Chandigarh as the airport struggled to handle the volume of traffic during the downpour.

Waterlogging paralysed traffic around Terminal 3 and the underpass linking the airport to Vasant Kunj, compounding the disruption for passengers travelling to and from IGI.

Photo by Ravi Dwivedi, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0