Ranchi: Air travel from the city was severely disrupted on Friday, with at least 26 flights cancelled and several others delayed due to adverse weather and operational issues. The cancellations affected services to and from Delhi, Patna, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Kolkata, Mumbai and Pune, leaving hundreds of passengers stranded at Birsa Munda Airport.According to the airport timetable, 44 flights were scheduled to operate during the day. Ranchi airport director Vinod Kumar said 24 flights operated by IndiGo were cancelled because of bad weather, while one Air India Express flight and its return service were cancelled for operational reasons. Three flights were diverted.Among the cancelled services were flights connecting Ranchi with Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Patna, Ahmedabad, Pune, Bengaluru and Hyderabad. Both arrivals and departures were affected, disrupting onward journeys and forcing passengers to wait for revised schedules or alternative arrangements.Haqiqat Ansari, a resident of Hazaribag, said he was travelling to Riyadh with his parents when their connecting flight from Ranchi to Delhi was cancelled. “We were informed about the cancellation only after reaching the airport,” he said.The airline rescheduled their journey for Saturday, but the family had to return to Hazaribag and make another trip to Ranchi, incurring additional expenses, Ansari said.A Delhi couple, who had been in Ranchi since Sept 20 for an outing, also had their return flight cancelled because of the weather. Their journey was rescheduled for Saturday.Passengers said they remained at the airport awaiting updated schedules and information on alternative arrangements as weather conditions continued to affect flight operations.
