The closure of the airspace over Delhi for two hours on Wednesday caused airlines to reschedule their flights to the city. The airspace will also remain closed on Thursday for two hours for preparations for the Independence Day celebrations on August 15.

The air traffic control at the IGI airport issued a notice stating that airspace in a radius of 60km from the airport will close on Wednesday and Thursday between 1pm and 3pm to facilitate the air exercise.

The A NOTAM (Notice To Airmen) issued to the airlines informed the airlines to reschedule their flights. The notice issued by the Delhi ATC said that the passengers should be informed about the changes.

The closure in routine and generally happens for the preparations for the event. The close also caused delays in some flights as they were scheduled to take off from the Airport and were asked to stop operations for two hours.

Airport officials say that all airlines were informed about the closure before hand and they rescheduled flights. However, some flights were ready for departure when the operations were stalled and the passengers had to wait on board for two hours.