A Guwahati road during Monday’s dust storm. Picture by Eastern Projections

Guwahati, March 16: Air services in Guwahati and Imphal remained suspended today while flight schedules were affected in Silchar this morning as hazy conditions, triggered by dust storms, reduced visibility, causing the biggest-ever flight disruptions in the region in recent times.

The Airports Authority of India’s regional executive director, S.C. Sharma, told The Telegraph that at least six flights were diverted from the three affected airports today as the visibility level was only around 800 to 1,000 metres.

During the past two days, flights from Lengpui airport in Mizoram have also not been able to take off or land as a thick grey mass of smoke emitted from bush fires enveloped the area.

Among flights diverted today were IndiGo and Kingfisher’s Calcutta-Imphal flights. The first could not land at Tulihal Airport and had to return to Calcutta, while the second was diverted to Silchar after visibility improved there.

After waiting for hours for the situation to improve, all the airlines cancelled their flights to Guwahati and Imphal for the day.

The disruption inconvenienced passengers who waited for hours at the airports without any concrete information about flight schedules and status. The alleged non-cooperative attitude of some airline operators added to their agony.

Many passengers alleged that they were not given refunds and were asked to book tickets on the next available flight. Some even had had a tough time reclaiming their baggage.