Heavy rain disrupts over 20 flights at Chennai airport

CHENNAI: Heavy rain accompanied by thunder and lightning across Chennai and its suburbs from Saturday late evening to Sunday morning disrupted more than 20 flight services at Chennai airport, leaving passengers stranded and causing delays and diversions.

An IndiGo flight carrying 184 passengers from Kolkata was diverted to Hyderabad after it could not land in Chennai due to the adverse weather conditions. More than 10 flights arriving from cities including Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Madurai, Tiruchy and Kolkata were forced to circle in the air for an extended period before landing.

The flights were able to land one after another after the rain eased.

Meanwhile, 12 flights scheduled to depart from Chennai, including domestic services to Madurai, Kochi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Pune and Delhi, were delayed by one to two hours. International services to Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Sri Lanka, Frankfurt and Abu Dhabi were also delayed.

The heavy rain also caused inconvenience to passengers inside and outside the airport. Water accumulated in aircraft parking areas, making it difficult for passengers to disembark from aircraft parked at stands without aerobridges.

Passengers had to walk through standing water to board pick-up vehicles. Those wearing shoes faced particular difficulty navigating the flooded areas.

The situation was similar at the airport's departure and arrival portico, where rainwater flowed in large volumes. Vehicles arriving to pick up passengers struggled to stop and collect them, while passengers had to wade through water to reach their vehicles.

The disruption continued from Saturday night into the early hours of Sunday, causing considerable inconvenience to air travellers.