Mumbai: The main runway of the international airport in Mumbai remained shut for the second day on Saturday as incessant rains hampered the towing away of the Turkish Airline plane stuck in mud near the taxiway. Because of heavy rains, the deadline to make the runway operational has now been extended to Sunday 8 am. Average delays of 45 minutes have been reported in arrivals and up to 1 hour for departures.
"Continuous rain in the airport area has made the ground near the main runway more slushy, preventing movement of equipment for towing away the stranded plane," Mumbai International Airport Ltd (MIAL) spokesperson said.
The aircraft from Istanbul, with 104 passengers and crew on board, skidded off the taxiway in the wee hours yesterday. The landing gear of the Airbus 340-300 got stuck in the mud near the runway, disrupting flight operations.
The arrival and departure of flights from the second runway was getting delayed by around 30 minutes.
Earlier, the airport authorities had said the main runway would be reopened for flights by noon.
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