MUMBAI: No flights will depart or land at the Mumbai airport for six hours in the afternoon on October 17 as the cross-runway will be shut for post-monsoon maintenance work, an annual practice.Both runways, 07-27 and 14-32, will be non-operational from 11 am to 5 pm, said Mumbai International Airport ltd (MIAL) on Friday.

“This scheduled temporary closure is a part of CSMIA’s annual post monsoon preventive maintenance plan,” it said adding that a Notice to Airmen (NOTAM)__notice to inform airlines, pilots and stakeholders, that is__ has also been duly issued in this regard six months in advance."The primary objective of this scheduled temporary closure is to undertake repair and maintenance activities essential to uphold the airport's infrastructure…..

This yearly practice of runway maintenance post monsoons is part of the series of activities undertaken with precision and meticulous efforts ensuring operational continuity and passenger safety, “ said MIAL.While demand for air travel is expected to pick up with the beginning of the festive season next month, October 17 falls on a Tuesday, which has been the leanest day of the week for domestic air travel in India.

Airfares for travel on October 17 haven’t gone up.

Unlike Mumbai, airports of cities such as Delhi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad have parallel runways and so can afford to keep a runway operational and the airport running when carrying out such annual maintenance works.