Friday, July 29 2005 16:22 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Mumbai: Indian carriers today (July 29, 2005) restored normalcy by operating all flights following re-opening of Mumbai airport and cleared the backlog created due to torrential rains even as flights are still using secondary runway.

Indian carriers including Air-India (A-I), Indian Airlines (IA), Jet Airways and Sahara Airlines have begun normal operations, airport sources said.

However, the airport authority continued to use secondary runway (14-32) as the main runway is not operational due to unavailability of navigational landing and communication aids, they said.

"Main runway, that was earlier inundated, is filled with stones, boulders, carcasses of buffalos and drums containing kerosene and petroleum products. Four parking bays are also filled with boulders," the sources said.

A-I operated 15 flights this morning (July 29, 2005) to destinations in Europe, United States, Gulf, South-East Asia and Africa, an A-I spokesperson said here.

He said the airline had mounted these services as per normal schedule so that passengers affected by non-operation of flights from Mumbai airport for two days could fly to their respective destinations at the earliest and without any further inconvenience.

"However, it was observed that instead of there being a clamour for seats, there were not adequate passengers for these flights, resulting in seats remaining unoccupied," he said.