The entire southern and oceanic airspace was closed for about two hours on Wednesday following the request from the Centre following the scheduled launch of Inter-Continental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) Agni-V from a test range off the coast of Odisha.
While the Agni-V launch was postponed after the final countdown began, the airspace over southern states and Bay of Bengal was opened by 8.30 pm.
“A trigger NOTAM was issued at 12 noon to alert the airlines, while the actual closure of airspace was between 6 pm and 8.30 pm,” a senior Airports Authority of India (AAI) official said.
He added that the government has given them a three-day window and so on Thursday, the airspace would once again be closed from 6 am till 10.30 am, as the countdown for the Agni-V launch is expected to begin at 7.30 am.
Chennai airport sources said the flights to Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Tiruchy were delayed by two hours on Wednesday.
While two flights from Kuala Lumpur and three flights from Singapore were delayed, one aircraft bound to Singapore took off two hours late in the afternoon.
Airport sources added that other flights that usually traverse over the southern airspace were asked to fly through Yangon and North India.