Frenetic activity at Chennai airport as 14 flights diverted from Bengaluru

CHENNAI: The city airport was abuzz with activity late on Thursday night after 14 flights were diverted here from Bengaluru due to heavy rain that made it impossible to land there.

Despite receiving so many flights unexpectedly, the airport officials managed the situation by deploying more staff to the runway near midnight.

Following the rain, Indigo Airlines flights from Kolkata and Delhi that were scheduled to land at 10.30 pm; an Air India flight and an Air Asia flight from Delhi; an Indigo Airlines flight from Chennai that was to land at 11.10 pm; several other flights from Bhubaneswar, Mumbai, Surat; and international flights from Kuala Lumpur and Hong Kong were diverted to the Chennai airport.

As many international flights land in Chennai around midnight, the airport was already busy. Due to this, there was not enough manpower available to handle the unexpected landing of 14 flights. Senior airport officials directed those who went back home after work to return and managed the situation.

The passengers waited at the airport and left for Bengaluru in the wee hours of Friday.