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A Guwahati-bound IndiGo flight carrying Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma was diverted to Tripura’s Agartala airport on Sunday evening after heavy rainfall and thunderstorms made it unsafe to land in Guwahati, officials said.

 

The aircraft, which had taken off from Mohanbari airport in Dibrugarh, was rerouted to the Maharaja Bir Bikram (MBB) Airport in Agartala as a precautionary measure, said K.C. Meena, the airport’s director. “The diversion was due to weather conditions with no technical issues reported,” he added.

 

After weather conditions in Guwahati improved, the flight later departed for its intended destination. The Chief Minister’s Office in Guwahati confirmed that Mr. Sarma was on board the aircraft at the time of the diversion.

 

Tripura Tourism Minister Sushanta Chowdhury rushed to the Agartala airport to meet Mr. Sarma after receiving word of the diversion.

 

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In a Facebook post, he wrote, “After getting information about the emergency landing of Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma ji’s aircraft at the Agartala airport due to bad weather in Guwahati, I rushed to the airport and spent some time with dada [elder brother].”

 

According to Mr. Meena, normal operations resumed later in the evening once conditions stabilised in Guwahati. “Altogether, five flights, after being diverted, had landed at the MBB airport on Sunday, and all of these had departed for their destinations,” he said.

 

The India Meteorological Department’s (IMD) Regional Centre in Guwahati had earlier forecast heavy rainfall and thunderstorms between 2:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. on August 24, prompting airlines to caution passengers about possible disruptions. IndiGo also issued advisories alerting travellers to delays in flight operations across the Northeast due to the inclement weather.

 

A statement from the Chief Minister’s Office reiterated that the diversion was carried out in the interest of passenger safety and that no untoward incident took place during the unscheduled stop in Agartala.

 

Authorities have urged travellers in the Northeast to continue monitoring flight schedules closely as uncertain weather conditions persist across the region.