Kolkata: More than 3,000 flyers were held up, some on the ground, others in the air and still more in other airports as Monday’s thunderstorm in Kolkata delayed nearly 20 incoming and departing flights.
There were some disruptions in local train services on account of hoardings and banners falling on the overhead wire at two places — Jadavpur and Sonarpur.
A chartered flight carrying the KKR team was diverted to Guwahati after holding over Kolkata during the thunderstorm. It was among eight flights that were diverted due to inclement weather that affected operations at the airport between 7 pm and 9 pm. All operations were suspended between 7.30 pm and 8.20 pm.
The team was on its way back from Lucknow and was due to land at Kolkata airport at 7.30 pm. But strong cross-winds at Kolkata airport made landing impossible and forced the flight to stay on hold over the city till the weather improved. When the holding fuel ran low, the flight was diverted to Guwahati airport where it landed around 8.30 pm. It was held up there till around 10 pm and reached Kolkata around 11 pm.
Seven more flights were diverted between 7.30 pm and 8.30 pm. While two flights were diverted to Guwahati, five were diverted to Bengaluru. An international flight from Dhaka returned after it was unable to land in the city. Nearly a dozen departing flights were also delayed.Two planes that had taxied returned to the parking bay.
Eastern Railway said train services were affected in the Jadavpur section between 7.50 pm and 8.30 pm after a banner fell on the overhead wire. A similar incident affected train services in Sonarpur between 8.05 pm and 9 pm. Along the main line, power fluctuations led to restricted train movement on the Ranaghat and Krishnanagar line.