Delhi Airport No Flight Operate for 145 Minutes till 26th January Republic Day

In a NOTAM (Notice to Airmen) issued on Friday, the government said that there will be no landing or take-off of any flight at Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport between 10:20 am and 12:45 pm till Republic Day or January 26. Will not be allowed to do so.

News agency ANI had earlier said that the airspace restrictions will remain in place till Republic Day and then January 29, when the Beating Retreat Ceremony will be held at Delhi's Vijay Chowk. The report also says that Delhi Airport will remain closed from 6 am to 9 pm on Republic Day, during which neither any flight can take-off nor land.

NOTAM will not affect helicopter operations of the Air Force, Army or BSF or the Centre's aircraft carrying the Governor or Chief Minister of a state. The temporary shutdown of operations at one of the world's busiest airports is an annual event as security is tightened in Delhi ahead of the Republic Day celebrations.

Delhi airport's daily closure of up to 145 minutes for the next week could impact commercial schedules as hundreds of flights were delayed, diverted and canceled due to dense fog for several weeks. Recently, a video also went viral on the internet, in which an angry passenger attacked the Indigo flight captain in a Delhi-Goa flight after a delay of about 13 hours.

Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia this week announced a 6-point action plan to deal with the problems caused by fog in domestic and international commercial flight operations. In a post on Twitter, Scindia informed about new SOPs for airlines to “minimize passenger inconvenience” and setting up 'war rooms'. India will celebrate its 75th Republic Day next week, due to which security rules are being tightened.