Monday, August 1 2005 19:50 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: Over 80 domestic flights of all major airlines to and from Mumbai were cancelled today (August 1, 2005) due to air traffic disruption caused by incessant rains lashing the western metropolis.

The flights were cancelled following instructions issued by the Civil Aviation Ministry to curtail operations to and from Mumbai.

Jet Airways, which has its hub of operations in Mumbai alone, had cancelled a total of 58 flights each day till Wednesday.

While Air Sahara cancelled 16 incoming and outgoing flights, Indian Airlines also cancelled a large number of flights but the details were not immediately available. The number of flights cancelled by carriers like Kingfisher, Air Deccan and SpiceJet could also not be immediately ascertained.

The carriers were clubbing their flights and taking full passenger loads to and from the city. Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel has appealed to air travellers to avoid travelling to Mumbai unless it was very urgent.

The cancellation of large number of flights had severe impact in Delhi Airport where hundreds of people had gathered for their travel to Mumbai. The Delhi-Mumbai sector is the busiest sector in the country with at least 40 flights each day operated by domestic carriers.