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Delhi Closes Airspace for Republic Day Rehearsals, Disrupting 600+ Flights a Day

Airlines face a compressed planning window after a late NOTAM, with winter fog threatening further delays.

Overview

  • A government NOTAM halts all take-offs and landings at Delhi daily from 10:20 am to 12:45 pm between January 21 and 26 to secure parade flypasts and VVIP movements.
  • On January 26, operations are suspended from 8:30 am to 1:00 pm and again from 3:00 pm to 7:00 pm, with additional restrictions from 3:00 pm to 7:00 pm on January 29 for the Beating the Retreat ceremony.
  • Cirium estimates a little over 600 flights will be affected each day during the restricted window, with the impact concentrated in a peak connection bank for Europe-bound and domestic services.
  • The NOTAM bans drones and small aerial vehicles within 100 km of Delhi and long-range aerial vehicles within 300 km, imposes altitude limits for overflights, and exempts specified military and certain state/VVIP aircraft.
  • Carriers are retiming schedules, rerouting aircraft, and offering rebookings or refunds, with ripple effects expected across other airports operating near capacity.