15 flight cancellations at Srinagar, 8 at Jammu

Srinagar, Dec 21: Bad weather conditions, causing poor visibility, coupled with operational reasons, led to the cancellation of 15 flights at the Srinagar International Airport on Sunday and eight flights scheduled for Jammu.

As per the data provided by the Srinagar airport officials, of the 15 cancelled flights, eight were of low-cost carrier IndiGo, two were to be operated by Air India Express, and one each cancelled flight was of Air India, SpiceJet, and Air Akasa.

The officials said five flights were able to land at Srinagar and also take off from the summer capital.

However, three of these were ferry flights, which are flight operations without any passengers.

As per the airport data, 862 passengers arrived at Srinagar on Sunday, while the outgoing passengers were 312.

Speaking with Greater Kashmir, Raja D, a videographer from Bengaluru, who was in Srinagar for a professional tour for the last two days, said he, along with other passengers, waited in an aircraft for an hour, following which they were made to deboard as the flight got cancelled.

“The flight on which we were scheduled to travel landed here in the afternoon. We were made to board the aircraft, but after waiting for an hour, there was an announcement that the flight was cancelled. As a result, all the passengers were made to deboard the plane,” Raja said. “My colleague and I are now on our way to Jammu, travelling by road. We have booked a connecting flight ticket from Jammu to Bengaluru for Monday.” Meanwhile, as per the data shared by the Jammu airport officials, the eight cancelled flights included five IndiGo flights, two Air India Express flights, and one Air India flight.

Besides, the four cancelled flights at Jammu airport included one Air India and three IndiGo flights, it said. At the 14th General Meeting and Tourism Promotion Event of the Tourist Trade Interest Guild in Srinagar last month, Director, Srinagar International Airport, Javed Anjum, told reporters that the runway at the airport has been upgraded to the Instrument Landing System Category-2 ( ILS-2), which essentially means that even in low visibility, a flight can make a landing.

Anjum had said that the upgradation of the runway was completed in 2024, the results of which were seen even during last winter, “when flights could land in visibility as low as 400 metres.” Last Saturday, a dry run and preparedness exercise was conducted by the AAI, Srinagar International Airport, to assess and ensure operational readiness in view of the forthcoming winter and snow season, with special emphasis on fog and low-visibility contingencies.