Mumbai Rains Disrupt Airport Ops: Over 330 Flights Delayed, 22 Cancelled After Hour-Long Shutdown

Mumbai: Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) was the world’s most disrupted airport on Sunday, as heavy rains and strong winds paralysed flight schedules at India's financial capital. The adverse weather conditions led to a temporary suspension of flight operations for an hour and caused cancellation of over 20 flights and delayed over 330 flights over the day.

On Sunday, strong gusty winds and reduced visibility severely impacted runway operations at CSMIA. According to global flight tracking data, the world's busiest single-runway-operation hub faced a severe gridlock, forcing airfield authorities to suspend all aircraft movements for exactly an hour between 10.17am and 11.17am. According to sources, four IndiGo flights to and from Delhi and Indore had to be cancelled due to the suspension of operations whereas 13 flights were diverted to neighbouring airports, such as Surat and Ahmedabad, before being cleared to return to Mumbai later in the day.

A spokesperson for Mumbai International Airport Ltd (MIAL) confirmed that adverse weather conditions, including strong gusty winds of upto 42 knots and reduced visibility due to heavy rain, impacted runway operations. "As per procedure, runway operations were temporarily suspended to ensure the safety of passengers, aircraft and ground personnel. Following an improvement in weather conditions, normal runway operations resumed," the spokesperson said.

​The cascading impact of the temporary closure reverberated throughout the domestic and international networks. By Sunday evening, the airport had recorded 22 flight cancellations, representing roughly 3% of its total daily schedule. Far more widespread was the toll on punctuality as 334 flights were delayed -- accounting for a staggering 39% of the day's total movements, according to Flightradar 24.

The heaviest hit of the disruptions was on the departures, with 223 outbound flights held at the gates or on taxiways, while 111 arriving flights faced extensive airborne holding patterns or delays. The average delay across the board climbed to well over 50 minutes, with some departing passengers waiting on the tarmac for over an hour and a half.

​Domestic carriers, including IndiGo, Air India, and Akasa Air, issued urgent travel advisories early in the afternoon, warning passengers of a domino effect hitting flight schedules across the country -- particularly on the dense Delhi-Mumbai trunk route, which was simultaneously battling bad weather in the national capital.

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