13 flights landed across India’s 5 busiest airports hours after the flying ban

From midnight of 24 March, when a flying ban was put in place, to noon of 25 March, New Delhi airport was the busiest handling 8 planes while Mumbai saw no landings in that period.

An Air India aircraft | PTI File Photo

New Delhi: After the ban on all commercial domestic flights got underway on midnight of 24 March, only 13 flights landed across five of India’s busiest airports between midnight and noon of 25 March.  

Given the Covid-19 pandemic, most countries, including India have banned air travel, and as a consequence, most aircraft that landed were carrying cargo. 

The New Delhi airport, with eight aircraft in the first 12 hours after the ban remained the busiest. While three flights landed in Chennai, both Bengaluru and Kolkata saw one each. Mumbai, which is usually the second-busiest airport in India, saw zero landings. 

Over the past few weeks, owing to the Covid-19 outbreak in India, most airlines had seen their demand drastically fall, putting them in a tight situation. In the meanwhile, because airlines have been forced to keep their aircrafts grounded, some airports are struggling to find enough parking space to accommodate all the airlines. 

ThePrint lists the aircraft that landed across India’s key airports between midnight and noon on 25 March.

Delhi 

Mahan Air from Tehran – 1:51 am

Aeroflot from Moscow – 3:56 am

Etihad Cargo from Hanoi – 5:46 am

Korean Air Cargo from Hanoi – 6:12 am

Qatar Cargo from Doha – 7:03 am

Air India from Jodhpur – 8:09 am 

Kalitta Air from Hong Kong – 8:27 am

Ethiopian Cargo from Chongqing – 12:00 am

Bengaluru

Blue Dart Aviation from Mumbai – 6:14 am

Chennai

Cathay Pacific Cargo from Hong Kong – 00:20 am 

Singapore Airlines Cargo from Singapore – 5:08 am

Oman Air from Muscat – 6:17 am

Kolkata 

Indigo from Delhi – 2:42 am