IAF's C-17 Globemaster Remains Stuck At Leh Airport, All Flights Cancelled

The runway at Leh airport has been temporarily closed after a C-17 heavy-lift transport aircraft experienced serviceability issues and is on the tarmac. According to an Indian Air Force official, efforts are underway to rectify the problem, and the runway is expected to be available for flying by tomorrow morning, as reported by news agency ANI.

Consequently, all flights to and from Leh were either diverted or canceled today. Popular domestic airlines such as IndiGo, Air India, SpiceJet, and Vistara operate a total of 10 flights to the hill town on a daily basis, as stated in a Hindustan Times report.

Vistara took to Twitter this morning to inform passengers about flight diversions caused by "runway restrictions."

"#DiversionUpdate: Flight UK601 from Delhi to Leh (DEL-IXL) is returning back to Delhi airport (DEL) due to runway restriction at Leh and is expected to arrive in Delhi at 10:00 AM. Please stay tuned for further updates," the tweet stated.

Air India, which operates two daily flights to Leh, diverted one to Srinagar and canceled the second flight following a notice to airmen (NOTAM) issued due to the C-17 aircraft breakdown, as per the HT report.

Meanwhile, SpiceJet, with three daily flights to the Himalayan town, canceled two of them, while IndiGo canceled all four flights to the airport, according to the report.

Flightradar24, a Swedish internet-based service that provides real-time aircraft flight tracking information, also confirmed that all flight arrivals into the airport had been canceled.

An airport official stated, "All flights have been canceled for today, and airlines will be informed if the runway can be operational as scheduled tomorrow," as reported by HT.