The Hindu : Front Page : Delhi-Mumbai flights resume; train services still hit

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jul 29, 2005

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Front Page

Delhi-Mumbai flights resume; train services still hit

Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI: Flight operations between Delhi and Mumbai resumed on Thursday afternoon after Mumbai airport opened for operations after having remained shut for two days due to heavy rain and flooding of runways. However, movement of trains between Delhi and Maharashtra remained affected resulting in cancellation of almost a dozen trains.

The day's first flight from Mumbai to Delhi was that of Indian Airlines that took off at 1-20 p.m. and reached Delhi at 3 p.m. This was followed by several other flights of Indian Airlines as well as private carriers.

The first Delhi-Mumbai flight of the day took off at 2-37 p.m. from the Indira Gandhi International Airport here. This was followed by other domestic flights to the Maharashtra capital as various carriers tried their best to clear the backlog.

However, the main runway of Mumbai airport was still inundated and airport authorities were working round-the-clock to normalise the situation, said an Airports Authority of India (AAI) spokesperson, adding that normal flight operations to Mumbai would resume only on Friday.

Mumbai-bound international flights that were diverted to Delhi might take off late on Thursday night or Friday morning, he added. The AAI spokesperson said all airlines had been directed to clear the massive backlog of passengers who were stranded for the past two days. The Union Civil Aviation Ministry has allowed various airlines to operate special flights, he added.

Meanwhile, rail services remained disrupted due to waterlogging on tracks and breaches in railway embankments on various sections of Central, Western and Konkan Railway leading to cancellation of at least a dozen trains.

The major trains that were cancelled on Thursday included the Maharashtra Sampark Kranti Express, Mumbai Rajdhani Express, August Kranti Express, Amritsar-Dadar Express, Mahanagri Express, Golden Temple Mail, Kamayani Express, Paschim Express, Bandra-Dehradun Express, Mumbai-Firozpur Janta Express and Punjab Mail.

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