New Delhi, April 12, 2025 – A fierce dust storm swept through Delhi Friday evening, grounding flights at Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGI) and leaving passengers stranded for up to 10 hours. Over 100 flights—Air India, IndiGo, SpiceJet, and more—faced delays or diversions as visibility plummeted to 300 meters, halting operations from 4 PM to midnight, per NDTV.
The storm, packing 60 kmph winds, hit at 3:30 PM, clogging Terminals 2 and 3 with chaos—think harried parents, crying kids, and endless queues. “No updates, no seats—I’ve been here since lunch,” fumed software engineer Anjali Gupta, stuck on a Dubai-bound IndiGo flight. Airport staff scrambled, offering water but little clarity—X posts exploded, one user raging, “IGI’s a circus!” Air India cited “severe weather” on X, resuming flights by 1 AM (The Indian Express).
Data paints the mess: IGI handles 1,400 daily flights, and Friday’s snarl hit 30% of them (DIAL, 2024). Diversions to Jaipur and Lucknow added woes—SpiceJet’s Mumbai flight sat on the tarmac five hours. “Safety first, but systems failed,” an aviation analyst told The Hindu. Delhi’s AQI spiked to 320—‘very poor’—with dust lingering into Saturday (CPCB). No injuries reported, but tempers flared; one X clip showed a shouting match at Terminal 3’s help desk.
This isn’t a one-off—Delhi’s April storms spiked 20% since 2020 (IMD). With climate shifts and Trump’s tariff chaos jacking fuel costs, airlines are stretched thin. Will IGI beef up crisis plans, or leave flyers high and dry again?
