Airline operations at Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport will be affected for several days, starting October 31, to facilitate maintenance work on the primary and secondary runways, The Indian Express reported. Officials said over 200 flights may be cancelled on each day, resulting in at least 2,100 cancellations.
The primary and secondary runways at the international airport will be shut for five hours between noon and 5 pm on November 3, 7, 10, 14, 17, 21, 24 and 28. The airport's spokesperson said, "As airlines were informed about this beforehand, they have scheduled their operations likewise."
The spokesperson said the airport's "cross runway operations" makes it mandatory to have both runways closed at the same time for the work. Jet Airways and IndiGo announced their revised schedule, and Air India is expected to announce its new schedule for these dates soon.
An Airports Authority of India official said, "Mumbai airport's operator has asked the United Kingdom-based NATS to conduct a study to optimise the use of runways, at the behest of the aviation ministry." The administration has been trying to address the airport's congestion problems for a while now, The Times of India reported.
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