Lucknow: Flight operations at Lal Bahadur Shastri International Airport in Varanasi were suspended for over two hours on Tuesday after a portion of the newly recarpeted runway surface was damaged following aircraft landings, affecting several flights.The airport’s runway 09/27 underwent recarpeting, and work was carried out on a portion of the runway on Monday night, according to an official source. However, after around eight to nine aircraft landed on Tuesday, a portion of the newly laid surface was found to have come loose.“Pebbles from the recarpeted surface and some pieces of aircraft tyre rubber were found scattered on the runway. As a safety measure, flight operations were suspended and rolling was carried out on the affected portion,” an official source said.The airport subsequently issued a NOTAM (Notice to Airmen), declaring runway 09/27 unavailable for operations from 1.30 pm to 3.30 pm.Officials said the two-hour closure window was used to carry out rolling and other maintenance work before aircraft operations resumed.Several flights were affected by the disruption. IndiGo flights 6E6805 from Ahmedabad and 6E2442 from Navi Mumbai were diverted to Lucknow. Several other incoming flights, including services from Ayodhya (6E5025), Delhi (AI2623, 6E2361), Lucknow (6E6805 and 6E2442) and Mumbai (QP1427), were delayed.Departures were also hit. IndiGo flight 6E2321 to Delhi was delayed by around six hours, while 6E6884 to Pune was delayed by about five hours. Flight 6E2590 to Ghaziabad was cancelled, while 6E5302 to Navi Mumbai faced a delay of around three hours. Air India flight AI2624 to Delhi was delayed by about two hours and IndiGo flight 6E132 to Delhi by around an hour.Airport Director Puneet Gupta said the runway was closed for around two hours for maintenance and flight operations subsequently resumed.
