Airport Closed: Flight operations at Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) will be suspended for six hours today (Thursday, May 8) due to scheduled runway maintenance.
The airport’s private operator Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL) announced this on April 19. MIAL said that NOTAM (Notice to Airmen) was issued six months ago to inform all concerned. This gave airlines enough time to revise their flight schedules and make necessary arrangements.
The essential pre-monsoon maintenance will take place from 11:00 am to 5:00 pm on Thursday. This will affect both the runways of the airport – 09/27 (primary runway) and 14/32 (secondary runway). During this period, no flights will take off as both runways will be out of operation. “This annual pre-monsoon maintenance is important to maintain the airport’s infrastructure,” the operator said.
Meanwhile, more than 300 flights have been cancelled due to restrictions imposed after the Indian Army launched missile attacks on terrorist camps in Pakistan. At least 25 airports, including Srinagar, have been temporarily closed. Air India, Indigo, SpiceJet, Air India Express, Akasa Air and some foreign airlines have cancelled their services to various airports.
Sources told news agency PTI that at least 25 airports in northern and western parts of India have been temporarily closed. These include Srinagar, Leh, Jammu, Amritsar, Pathankot, Chandigarh, Jodhpur, Jaisalmer, Shimla, Dharamshala and Jamnagar.
According to a source, more than 300 flights to and from various airports have been cancelled by the airline. IndiGo said it has cancelled more than 165 flights from various domestic airports, including Amritsar and Srinagar, till the morning of May 10 due to airspace restrictions.
Sources said around 140 flights of the Air India Group (Air India and Air India Express) have been cancelled. The airline said, “Following the notification by aviation authorities regarding closure of Jammu, Srinagar, Leh, Jodhpur, Amritsar, Bhuj, Jamnagar, Chandigarh and Rajkot airports, Air India flights to and from these stations are being cancelled till 5:29 am Indian time on May 10.”
IndiGo said in a statement, “Due to the government notification on airspace restrictions, more than 165 IndiGo flights from several airports (Amritsar, Bikaner, Chandigarh, Dharamshala, Gwalior, Jammu, Jodhpur, Kishangarh, Leh, Rajkot and Srinagar) have been cancelled till 5:29 am on May 10, 2025.” IndiGo operates around 2,200 flights daily.
