Bhubaneswar: Four Kolkata-bound flights had to be diverted mid-air and make emergency landings at the Biju Patnaik International Airport (BPIA) here Sunday due to inclement weather in the West Bengal capital.
According to BPIA sources, due to heavy downpour, the Kolkata Air Traffic Controller (ATC) didn’t give landing permission to these flights. Low visibility on the runway forced the pilots to divert to the nearest airport here. “6E 172 Bangalore-Kolkata, 9W 907 New Delhi-Kolkata, 6E 708 Patna-Kolkata and AI 710 Mohanbari-Kolkata landed landed at BPIA due to bad weather,” BPIA director SC Hota said.
While Indigo flights from Bangalore and Patna left for Kolkata, Air India and Jet Airways aircrafts had taken off from Mohanbari and New Delhi respectively.
As many as 500 passengers have been left stranded at BPIA due to emergency landing.
Meanwhile, BPIA sources said passengers will fly back once the weather conditions improve at Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport, Kolkata. Notably, the airlines provide temporary accommodation to passengers in case of inordinate delay in take-off.
