January seems to have been most troublesome for airlines operating from Sanganer Airport for he past few years. The fog situation sincethe beginning of the year paralysed flight movements from the city causing financial losses to the airlines and gross inconvenience to the passengers.Airport authorities say over 125 flights were delayed between 1-7 hours along with 10 Jaipur-bound flights diverted to nearby airports Delhi, Ahmedabad and Udaipur due to bad weather in January.This winter we rescheduled 100 flights and cancelled 12 flights,Anuj Agarwal, airport director, Sanganer Airport.

For every cancellation the airlines have incurred a loss of Rs 4 lakh, including a complete refund to passengers. Even an hour’s delay increases the possibility of a flight to miss its destinations scheduled on that day.Every diversion means a loss of between Rs 4 to Rs 8 lakh to the airlines concerned. Generally flights are diverted when they are near their destination and are directed to nearby airports. The whole process takes around 1-2 hours which also mean additional burning of fuel besides accommodating passengers in hotels or providing refreshments, said Nitesh Mathur, an airline expert.

During this period 10 flights were diverted to Udaipur Ahmedabad and Mumbai. So far, this year is the worst for the air passengers travelling out of Jaipur. They faced the trouble of missing their connecting flights and were left stranded at the airport for hours.During this period Sanganer Airport successfully acted as a subsidiary to Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi. The city’s airport has accommodated more then 90 Delhi-bound diverted flights from across the country and globe. On January 25 and 26 nearly 25 flights were diverted here. In fact, the city has been the most favourite place for airlines for diversion.

The city is safest and economical destination for diversion due to its closeness to the national capital. The airlines save up to 1-3 lakhs if flights are diverted here rather then if it goes to the other destinations like Ahmedabad,Mumbai and Lucknow,says an airline official.

Those flights which come from long haul destinations were mostly diverted to the Jaipur. Gone were the days when diverted flights had to hover in the city’s skies getting clearance from the ATC for landing. “The city airport is equipped to accommodate 15 additional flights in the emergent situation,” added Agarwal.