An IndiGo flight carrying Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah finally landed in New Delhi early on Sunday morning after a late-night diversion to Jaipur left passengers stranded in the air for hours.
The flight, originally scheduled to land in the national capital from Jammu, was rerouted on Saturday night due to congestion and operational delays, compounding ongoing air travel chaos caused by inclement weather in Srinagar.
The aircraft reportedly departed Jaipur at 2:00 a.m., eventually reaching Delhi just after 3:00 a.m. Abdullah confirmed his arrival with a characteristically candid post on X, saying, "In case anyone is wondering, I got to Delhi just after 3:00 AM."
Clearly exasperated by the ordeal, the J&K Chief Minister did not mince words in his criticism of the capital’s aviation facilities. "It is a bloody shitshow (excuse my French but I'm in no mood to be polite)," he posted earlier, in response to what he termed a “three-hour” ordeal in the skies following departure from Jammu.
Sharing a selfie while standing on the steps of the aircraft during a brief deboarding at Jaipur airport for “fresh air”, Abdullah said: "So here I am at 1 in the morning on the steps of the plane getting some fresh air. I've no idea what time we will leave from here."
At the time of filing this report, IndiGo had not issued an official statement regarding the diversion. However, the airline earlier posted a general advisory, saying adverse weather in Srinagar was impacting operations.
"Weather conditions in Srinagar are impacting flight operations. We understand this may cause inconvenience and truly appreciate your patience... Our teams are actively monitoring the situation and will have smooth operations back on track as soon as the weather plays nice," the advisory read.
Meanwhile, passengers at Jammu airport faced further disarray earlier on Saturday, with flight delays and cancellations causing crowding and confusion.
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