230 flights cancelled due to closure of Mumbai airport runways
Mumbai, Feb 7: As many as 230 flights were cancelled on Thursday from the airport here due to closure of two runways for maintenance and repair work, according to a source.
Travel portal ixigo said average airfares have increased 23 per cent on key routes to and from Mumbai for the next few days.
Both runways of the airport are being closed from 11 am to 5 pm for three days every week between February 7 and March 30. During this period, the runways would be shut for maintenance and repair work on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.
The primary runway at the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport can handle up to 50 arrivals and departures an hour. The secondary runway can handle 35 flight movements per hour.
The source at the airport said that 230 flights were cancelled Thursday due to the closure of runways.
ixigo's co-founder and CEO Aloke Bajpai Wednesday said that airfares have seen an average spike of 23 per cent on key routes to and from Mumbai.
"Ahmedabad-Mumbai has seen a substantial hike in airfares of over 80 per cent as compared to last week. Last minute non-stop flights and stop over flights have been impacted the most, recording a growth of over 200 per cent in some cases.
"Around 33 per cent of all flights from Mumbai airport were delayed today and we expect a further increase in cancellations and delays over the next few days," he said in a statement.
On an average, the airport handles around 1,000 flights a day.
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Minister Parameshwara says remarks on properties linked to drug peddlers 'misunderstood'
Tumakuru (PTI): Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara on Saturday said his recent remarks on the demolition of properties linked to those involved in narcotics trade were "misunderstood and misinterpreted".
His clarification follows remarks made two days ago on the government's uncompromising crackdown on the drug menace, including action against properties linked to foreign nationals allegedly involved in drug trafficking.
"It is unfortunate. It is taken in the wrong sense. I didn't mean that tomorrow itself I am going to send bulldozers and demolish the houses. That was not my intention. It was wrongly taken," he told reporters here.
Responding to Congress MLC K Abdul Jabbar's question in the legislative council on the growing drug menace in Bengaluru, Davangere and coastal districts, the minister on Thursday detailed the extensive enforcement measures initiated since the Congress government assumed office.
Pointing to the involvement of some foreign nationals, the minister had said, "Many foreign students from African countries have come to Karnataka. They are into the drug business. We catch them and register cases against them, but they want the case to be registered because once the case is registered, we cannot deport them."
"We have gone to the extent of demolishing the rented building where they stay," he had said.
