IndiGo Delhi–Amritsar flight returns midway after sudden airport blackout
Sources in the Ministry of Civil Aviation confirmed to this newspaper that an IndiGo flight en route to Amritsar was forced to return to Delhi.
Flight No. 6E 2045 had departed from Delhi's Terminal 1D at 8:26 pm (a delayed departure by 16 minutes) and was scheduled to reach Sri Guru Ram Dass Jee International Airport in Amritsar approximately 50 minutes later. According to flight-tracking websites, after flying for around 30 minutes, the aircraft made a sharp U-turn and landed back in Delhi at 9:21 pm.
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Time of India
5 hours ago
- Time of India
IndiGo flights begin today to four metros, 4 other cities from Hindon
Ghaziabad: A 6.55am touchdown will mark the start of IndiGo's flight operations from Hindon Civil Terminal on Sunday, as India's largest airline expands its operations in the Delhi-NCR region. Indigo will be the second frontline airline to operate from the terminal, which uses the runway of Hindon air base, after Air India Express began flight operations in March. From Sunday, IndiGo will operate 70 weekly departures across eight new destinations, including Bengaluru, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Patna, Varanasi, Indore, and Ahmedabad. The first Indigo flight to land will be from Bengaluru, followed by daily inbound and outbound services on that route, including a second flight landing at 12.10pm and departing at 1pm. You Can Also Check: Noida AQI | Weather in Noida | Bank Holidays in Noida | Public Holidays in Noida Daily operations are also scheduled for Patna, Varanasi, Kolkata, and Mumbai. However, return flights on the Mumbai route will not operate on Saturdays. Flights from Ahmedabad will operate daily, but return flights will skip Sundays, except for one additional service exclusively on Sundays. Chennai flights will operate six days a week, excluding Saturdays. While expansion of routes underscores the rising demand for regional connectivity, it also puts pressure on the limited infrastructure at Hindon Civil Terminal. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Gentle Japanese hair growth method for men and women's scalp Hair's Rich Learn More Undo Initially designed to handle 300 passengers per hour, the terminal's capacity was stretched to 430 passengers per hour following previous expansions. With IndiGo's launch, officials now expect up to 500 passengers per hour—the terminal's maximum manageable load under current conditions. To cope with the surge, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) has increased its on-ground staff to 125 and is coordinating closely with airline operators. A new conveyor belt will soon be added to improve baggage handling and reduce passenger wait times. Ghaziabad MP Atul Garg will visit the terminal on Sunday with members of the Aerodrome Advisory Committee to review operations and recommend immediate improvements. "Short-term measures will be implemented after our review," Garg said. He also confirmed a survey of surrounding land has identified nine hectares for long-term expansion, with a report already submitted to the civil aviation ministry. "I will follow up personally with the minister next week," he added. The terminal, developed over 42,000 sqm with 22,250 sqm allocated for the building itself, requires at least five more acres for a full expansion. Beyond IndiGo and Air India Express, the terminal is already servicing 14 destinations under the regional connectivity scheme. Star Air currently operates flights to Nanded (Maharashtra) and Adampur (Punjab), while FlyBig covers routes to Bathinda, Ludhiana, and Kishanganj. Air India Express also connects passengers from Hindon to major cities like Kolkata, Goa, Jaipur, Chennai, Patna, Mumbai, Bhubaneswar, Varanasi, Jammu, and Bengaluru.
News18
18 hours ago
- News18
Phuket-Bound Air India Express Flight Returns To Hyderabad Shortly After Takeoff
An Air India Express flight from Hyderabad to Phuket returned to Rajiv Gandhi Airport due to a technical issue. Passengers waited without clear communication. A Phuket-bound Air India Express flight from Hyderabad returned to city's Rajiv Gandhi International Airport on Saturday morning shortly after takeoff due to a technical issue. According to flight tracking data from FlightRadar24, Air India Express flight IX110 (Hyderabad-Phuket), operated by a Boeing 737 Max 8 (registration VT-BWA), took off from Rajiv Gandhi International Airport at 6:41 am but returned by 6:57 am, with a total airborne time of just 16 minutes, due to a technical issue. The flight was originally scheduled to land in Phuket at 11:45 am. Agitated passengers stormed the social media about the experience, saying they were left waiting inside the aircraft without any clear communication from the airline. Airline Responds While replying to a passenger, Air India Express apologised on X for the disruption and clarified that the delay was caused by a technical glitch. 'We apologise for the inconvenience caused due to the disruption of your flight. Please note that the delay was due to technical reasons, as ensuring our guest's safety remains our top priority. We are working on resolving the issue and are currently awaiting the updated ETD. Our team will keep you informed and provide the necessary assistance regarding the departure time. We sincerely apologise once again and look forward to providing you with a better experience the next time you fly with us," it said in a post on X. Earlier this week, an IndiGo flight from Delhi to Imphal was forced to return mid-air on Thursday morning soon after takeoff following a technical snag. The aircraft underwent mandatory checks before resuming its journey and finally landed in Imphal nearly four and a half hours after its original departure time. In another incident, an IndiGo flight — 6E-6271 — from Delhi to Goa reportedly suffered an engine failure mid-air and was diverted to Mumbai, where it landed safely. view comments First Published: Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Indian Express
21 hours ago
- Indian Express
Pakistan extends airspace closure for Indian airlines, aircraft by another month till August 24
Pakistan has extended the closure of its airspace for Indian aircraft and aircraft operated by Indian airlines by a month, till August 24 early morning, according to a fresh notice to airmen (NOTAM) issued by Pakistan's aviation authorities. The new NOTAM came a few days before the July 24 expiration of the earlier closure notice. After this extension by Pakistan, India is also likely to extend the closure of its airspace for Pakistani airlines and aircraft beyond July 24, when the current Indian NOTAM is also set to expire. Following the Pahalgam terror attack in April, as diplomatic relations between India and Pakistan deteriorated, Pakistan on April 24 shut its airspace to Indian aircraft and airlines for at least a month, banning them from overflying its airspace. On April 30, India, too, closed its airspace to Pakistani aircraft and airlines. Since then, both countries have been extending their airspace closures by issuing NOTAMs on a monthly basis. The two countries have only banned each other's airlines and aircraft from their respective airspaces, but they remain open for overflying for airlines and aircraft from other countries. The new NOTAM issued by Pakistan is similar to the previous notices, except for the effective duration of airspace closure. Pakistan will keep its airspace closed to Indian airlines and aircraft, including military flights, till 5:29 India time on August 24. With the Pakistani airspace not available to them, around 800 flights a week of Indian airlines are being impacted by longer durations, increased fuel burn, and a few other complexities related to crew and flight scheduling, all of which are increasing operational costs for the carriers. Indian airlines' flights from North India to West Asia, the Caucasus, Europe, the UK, and North America's eastern region switched from their routine paths to longer routes, adding anywhere between 15 minutes to a few hours to the journey, depending on the distance and the location of the destination. All major Indian airlines operate international flights to destinations to the west of the country, and many of these flights were routinely overflying Pakistan. Air India operates flights to West Asia, Europe, the UK, and North America. IndiGo operated flights to West Asia, Turkey, the Caucasus, and Central Asia, but had to suspend flights to the Central Asian cities of Almaty and Tashkent from Delhi as they were now outside the operational range of its existing fleet of narrow-body aircraft. Air India Express, Akasa Air, and SpiceJet's west-bound international flights are to destinations in West Asia. According to data from Cirium, an aviation analytics company, currently there are almost 400 weekly westward international departures from North Indian airports—Delhi, Amritsar, Jaipur, and Lucknow—that were routinely flying over Pakistan. Given that all these flights have return legs, the total number of affected flights goes up to around 800 from these airports. Of these, around 640 flights are from or to India's largest airport—Delhi's Indira Gandhi International airport—which is likely to be the most affected due to the move by Pakistan. Additionally, a handful of ultra-long-haul flights from other Indian cities like Mumbai are also getting impacted as their flight paths used to go through the Pakistani airspace. For Pakistan, the impact of India's airspace closure has been rather insignificant because, unlike India's booming aviation sector, Pakistan's struggling flag carrier, Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), has a limited international footprint, and that too largely to the west of the country. According to airline schedule data from Cirium, PIA operates just six flights a week — to and from Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia, from Lahore and Islamabad — that were routinely flying over India. Flight tracking data shows that some of Air India's ultra-long-haul flights to and from North America have had to take technical halts — planned stops for refueling or crew change — at European airports like Copenhagen and Vienna, breaking the journey of the otherwise non-stop flights. The last time when Pakistan closed its airspace for an extended period—in 2019 following the Balakot airstrikes by the Indian Air Force—some of Air India's flights to North America had to take technical halts midway on a regular basis. When Pakistan closed its airspace for over four months in 2019, Indian airlines are estimated to have lost around Rs 700 crore due to higher fuel expenses and operational complications that came with longer routes many of their flights were forced to take. Air India was the worst affected Indian carrier at the time, as it operated more west-bound international flights than other airlines. Moreover, it was and continues to be the only Indian airline that operates long-haul and ultra-long-haul flights to Europe and North America. Air India, now a Tata group entity, is understood to have informed the government that the Pakistani airspace closure is estimated to cost the airline around $600 million on an annualised basis. Over the past few years, other Indian airlines — particularly IndiGo — have also expanded their international networks to include various destinations that can be served by their existing fleets that mainly comprises narrow-body jets. IndiGo is the only Indian airline that was flying to destinations in Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Turkey. Sukalp Sharma is a Senior Assistant Editor with The Indian Express and writes on a host of subjects and sectors, notably energy and aviation. He has over 13 years of experience in journalism with a body of work spanning areas like politics, development, equity markets, corporates, trade, and economic policy. He considers himself an above-average photographer, which goes well with his love for travel. ... Read More
