Owing to Republic Day, the Indian Air Force had ordered to cancel flights in and out of Delhi’s IGI Airport from 10.30 am to 12.15pm. The closure at the airport has been restricted to seven days instead of nine, the Aviation Ministry said in a statement.
The closure of airspace at IGI Airport will be enforced from 18 January to 26 January in order t step up security preparations for Republic Day.
“The IAF has reduced the closure schedule of IGI Airport’s airspace by two days. On 19 January and 25 January, the airspace will remain open and flights will operate as scheduled on these two days,” said R N Choubey, Secretary, Civil Aviation.
An additional 30-minute window is added to the closure of the airspace from 10.30 am to 12.15 pm. This results in the cancellation of 100 scheduled flights per day. And over the course of 9 days, this would result in cancellation of over 1,000 flights scheduled in the 105-minute window.
Moreover, as part of Republic Day parade, the IAF conducts a fly-past. The closure of airspace from 19 to 26 January has become a norm now. Every year the airspace over Delhi is closed for 60 to 90 minutes for rehearsals ahead of the parade.
However, this time, the Delhi Airport Pvt Ltd (DIAL) asked airlines to call off all domestic flights scheduled to land and take off from the Indira Gandhi International Airport between 10.30 am and 12.15 pm from 18 to 26 January.
Generally, most of the flights lined up during the closure hours are shelved and having no free slots available at the airport, DIAL requested domestic flights to be called off while international carriers were asked to reschedule their flights.