Flying between countries can be a real hassle sometimes - especially when there are uncontrollable factors that disrupt your entire journey.
That's exactly what happened to passengers on an IndiGo flight from Dubai to Delhi following an 11-hour delay. The IndiGo Flight 6E024 was scheduled to depart from Dubai International Airport at 7 p.m. on Tuesday. However, following turbulent weather conditions, the flight could not take off till 6:12 a.m. the next day.
Passengers were asked to board the plane at 1:35 a.m.; the plane did not take off till five hours after they sat in their seats.
This came following the closure of a runway in Mumbai.
"Due to the ongoing closure of the main runway in Mumbai, after an incident with another airline, compounded by the severe weather conditions, a substantial number of cancellations and diversions for IndiGo and other airlines had to be implemented," said a spokeswoman for IndiGo, according to The National.
Heavy monsoon rains have hit parts of India, killing many people in different cities. On Tuesday, a wall collapsed in Mumbai due to the rains, leaving at least 22 people dead and many others injured.
IndiGo was not the only airline to have suffered from major delays to India. The runway closure in Mumbai came after a domestic flight "overshot its mark while landing amid heavy rainfall," as reported by Gulf News. Following the incident, around 54 flights were diverted from Mumbai airport to other airports.
An Emirates flight was not just delayed, but forced to return back to Dubai after departure. In a statement to Gulf News, a spokesperson confirmed the news.
"On 1 July, Emirates flight EK500 from Dubai to Mumbai returned to Dubai after departure, due to the A380-compatible runway being disabled at Mumbai International Airport. Affected passengers were accommodated on a replacement Boeing 777 aircraft, or have been rebooked on a later flight. Emirates apologizes for any inconvenience caused."