BANGALORE: Bad weather disrupted flight schedules on Wednesday evening. Fifteen flights were delayed leaving hundreds of passengers stranded. One flight coming towards Bangalore from Hyderabad was diverted to Chennai because of poor visibility.

According to officials at the Air Traffic Control (ATC) section of the Bangalore Airport, the flight services were disrupted between 4 p.m. and 5 p.m.

Officials of the various airlines told The Hindu that the ATC did not permit landing or take-off because of poor visibility.

Just as the sudden downpour around the airport caught the authorities unawares, hundreds of passengers were stranded in the airport for a couple of hours before permission for the flights to take off were granted.

Worst hit

Air Deccan was the worst affected with 10 of its flights delayed. Airline officials said that five incoming flights to Bangalore including flights from Goa, Mumbai and Delhi were delayed. Similarly, five flights from Bangalore to Coimbatore, Chennai and other places were delayed. This in turn delayed several other flights in the evening, the officials said.

The Kingfisher Airlines officials said that their flight coming to Bangalore from Hyderabad was diverted to Chennai and landing of a flight from Mumbai was delayed, which delayed the flight to Mumbai from Bangalore.

Similarly, the Jet Airways reported delay in two flights from Bangalore to Chennai and Hyderabad. The scheduled landing of flights of Indian coming from Delhi and Mumbai were delayed resulting in the delay of return flights to Delhi and Mumbai.

© Copyright 2000 - 2009 The Hindu