35 flights affected as heavy rains, thunder lash Chennai

CHENNAI: Wednesday night saw heavy rains lash Chennai and its suburbs, causing disruptions to at least 35 flight services in the city airport.

The rain spell which began yesterday evening soon escalated into a heavy downpour with thunder and lightning by around 9 pm. The severe weather conditions substantially affected flight operations, leaving scores of passengers in the lurch.

An Indigo Airlines flight from Tiruchy with 68 passengers on board was forced to return to Bengaluru as it could not land in Chennai due to the adverse weather.

Over a dozen flights, including those from Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, and Bhubaneswar, were forced to circle the Chennai airport for extended periods, unable to land safely.

A total of 20 flights headed to destinations such as Kochi, Coimbatore, Hyderabad, Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Indore, Singapore, Abu Dhabi, and Kuala Lumpur, also faced delays of up to two hours before they departed from the city airport.

Additionally, two Sri Lankan Airlines flights, which had arrived in Chennai and were scheduled to return to Sri Lanka, were cancelled due to the inclement weather.

After the rains momentarily eased, some aircraft managed to land at the airstrip, however, an Indigo flight arriving from Tiruchirappalli at 10.05 pm had to be diverted to Bengaluru as it was not able to circle the skies further owing to insufficient fuel.

On the whole, Wednesday's weather delayed 3 incoming flights, 20 outgoing flights, and led to the cancellation of two flights, adding up to a total of 35 affected flight services.