NEW DELHI- Indira Gandhi International Airport (DEL) in Delhi experienced severe operational disruptions on Saturday, April 12, with nearly 500 flights delayed and over 40 diverted.

The chaos resulted from a combination of Friday evening’s powerful thunderstorm and the ongoing closure of Runway 28/10 for maintenance work.

According to Flightradar24 tracking data, at least 498 flights faced delays by 7:20 PM on Saturday. Airport officials confirmed that more than 40 flights had been diverted since Friday evening, with delays affecting over 300 flights.

The airport has been operating with reduced capacity since April 9 due to the planned closure of Runway 28/10 for an Instrument Landing System (ILS) upgrade. This maintenance, announced in February, aims to improve flight operations during Delhi’s low-visibility winter fog conditions.

The timing of the thunderstorm created a major storm of challenges, revealing apparent gaps in contingency planning for operating with limited runway capacity during adverse weather events.

Social media platforms were filled with complaints from stranded passengers experiencing extended delays, poor communication, and inadequate support.

“20 min dust storm in Delhi; there’s chaos everywhere. Because the airlines don’t have a system of contingency planning… zero support, communication, basic facilities, nothing… It took 15 hours to retrieve my baggage,” one passenger posted.

Another traveler complained to Air India (AI): “…flight departed 12 hours late. There was no support from your side at Delhi Airport, all your higher authority was sleeping peacefully when we were suffering. The delay was due to total mismanagement of Air India.”

The thunderstorm that hit Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR) on Friday brought gusty winds exceeding 80 km/hr, causing widespread damage. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) initially issued a yellow alert for Saturday, predicting additional storms, but later withdrew it.

Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) addressed the situation on social media at 5 PM Saturday.