From correspondents in Maharashtra, India, 10:06 PM IST

Fourteen incoming flights were diverted from Mumbai airport Tuesday as poor visibility due to foggy conditions crippled operations for over two hours on two occasions, an official said.

Operations were first suspended between 2 p.m. and 4.30 p.m. as visibility dipped to below 1,800 metres. Since there was no major improvement in the weather, operations were again suspended between 5.10 p.m. and 6 p.m.

As a result, 14 incoming flights were diverted to cities like Pune, Aurangabad, Ahmedabad, Bangalore and Hyderabad. Among the flights diverted were those of Jet Airways (7), Kingfisher Airlines (5) and Jetlite (2).

While seven flights were re-directed to Ahmedabad, three were diverted to Hyderabad, two to Pune and one each to Aurangabad and Bangalore.

On all Tuesdays, the main runway of the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport remains shut for repairs. There are only limited operations of small aircraft on the alternate runway.

Normalcy was resumed as the main runway was re-opened at 6 p.m..

(Staff Writer, © IANS)