Delhi’s IGI Airport closure – for a few hours – has been restricted to seven days instead of nine in the run up to Republic Day, the Aviation Ministry said in a statement to The Times of India.
The Indian Air Force had ordered the cancellation of flights in and out of Delhi’s IGI Airport from 10.30 am to 12.15 pm from 18 January to 26 January, to step up security preparations for Republic Day.
The IAF has reduced the closure schedule of IGI Airport’s airspace by two days. On 19 January and 25 January, the airspace will remain open and flights will operate as scheduled on these two days.R N Choubey, Secretary, Civil Aviation
The closure of the airspace from 10.30 am to 12.15 pm, with an additional 30-minute window on either side, results in the cancellation of 100 scheduled flights every day. Over the course of 9 days, this would lead to the cancellation of over 1,000 flights scheduled in the 105 minute window (165 minutes if you tally in the 30 minute window on either side).
The IAF conducts a fly-past as part of the Republic Day parade. Every year from 19 to 26 January, the airspace over Delhi is closed for 60 to 90 minutes for rehearsals ahead of the parade.
This is the first time, the Delhi Airport Pvt Ltd (DIAL) asked airlines to cancel all domestic flights scheduled to land and take off from the Indira Gandhi International Airport between 10.30 am and 12.15 pm from 18 to 26 January, reported TOI.
Usually, most of the flights scheduled during the closure hours are rescheduled, but with no free slots available at the airport, DIAL had to ask the domestic flights to be cancelled while international carriers were asked to reschedule their flights.
(With inputs from TOI)
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