Mumbai airport resumes flight operations after 11-hour hiatus due to Tauktae

(Eds: Updates with flight operations resumption at airport) Mumbai, May 17 (PTI) Flight operations at Mumbai airport resumed on Monday night after being suspended for 11 hours due to the cyclone Tauktae. More than 55 flights, both incoming and outbound, were cancelled at the city's till around 7.30 pm due to the closure.

The Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport had announced suspension of all air services, initially for three hours from 11 am on Monday due to the cyclone. This was later extended eventually to 10 pm in different phases. "Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) has resumed operations with effect from 2200 hours of May 17," the private airport operator said in a statement.

Read | Cyclone Tauktae wreaks havoc in Maharashtra

The airport operator said it has registered the cancellations of 34 arrivals and 22 departures, adding that a few airlines have decided to cancel services to Mumbai. CSMIA, however, did not provide specific details. Mumbai airport, which is the second busiest aerodrome in the country, is reportedly handling around 250 flights in a day due to low passenger demand amid the deadly and more virulent second wave of the pandemic.

Pre-pandemic, the airport was handling close to 1,000 aircraft movements per day. The airport has also so far witnessed seven diversions, it added. Winds blew at 114 kmph in Mumbai on Monday afternoon as the extremely severe cyclonic storm Tauktae was passing through the Mumbai coast barrelling towards Gujarat, officials said.