Four flights diverted due to bad weather

Patna: Operations at Jayprakash Narayan International Airport in Patna faced significant disruption on Friday morning after inclement weather forced at least four incoming flights to divert to other destinations.According to airlines, Air India Express flight IX-1346 from Delhi, scheduled for 7.30am, was diverted after making several go-arounds before it landed at Lucknow at 8.55am. The flight returned to Patna at 11am.IndiGo flight 6E6394 from Chandigarh, scheduled at 8.55am, was diverted to Lucknow, where it landed at 9.55am. Owing to operational limitations, 13 adult passengers along with two infants had to be offloaded from the aircraft, after which the flight departed for Patna and landed here at 11.55am. Similarly, flight 6E- 6245 from Delhi, scheduled at 7.55am, was diverted to Kolkata, while another IndiGo flight 6E- 2769 from Delhi, scheduled at 9.50am, were also diverted to Lucknow.Airport officials confirmed that four flights en route to Patna were forced to divert due to poor visibility and unsafe flying conditions, resulting in delays. “As the weather improves, the flight operation were largely normal,” the officials said.Among the affected departures, an Air India Express flight from Patna to Delhi, originally scheduled for 8am, finally took off at 11.59am. Similarly, an IndiGo flight to Hyderabad, which was supposed to depart at 8.30am, left at 12.17pm. Despite the challenging conditions, a few incoming flights landed without issues.The diversions triggered a cascading effect on airport operations. Many passengers were left waiting for hours inside the terminal, causing heavy congestion in the departure area. Frustrated travellers expressed their displeasure over the prolonged delays.Sandip Basu, one traveller complained that his flight was delayed by almost 3 hours in the morning. He also complained that during the wait at ground floor gate 1 area, the internet connection was poor and it became extremely difficult for him to access his Emails or WhatsApp.Another flyer wrote: “Patna to Chandigarh flight was delayed for more than three hours. Passengers stuck at the airport since 10am because the airline did not inform us about the diversion and delay. The airline did not even provide meals or compensation.”IndiGo executives also wrote on X: “We regret the delay of flights, which occurred due to adverse weather conditions at Patna impacting the arrival of the aircraft and is beyond our control (sic).”