Flights at the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA) and the old airbase at Juhu were severely affected on Thursday as the oil sector strike entered its second day.

The old airport at Juhu caters to offshore operations of the Bombay High-based Oil and Natural Gas Commission. It had only 12 or 13 aircraft movements on Thursday. Since Wednesday, not one ONGC helicopter has been used.

A senior airport official said the only flight movements at Juhu have been those of private charters. “On an average day, we have 35 departures and as many arrivals, with ONGC’s helicopters contributing as many as 28 to 30 departures and arrivals.”

The only one oil supplier at the Juhu base is the Indian Oil

Corporation (IOC), which has been the worst hit by the ongoing strike.

A senior ONGC official said production has dropped 40 to 50 per cent. On record, a spokesperson for the company said the overall impact has been partial but conceded it can get worse if the strike continues.

At the international airport, the strike delayed flights all day because the delivery of aviation turbine fuel was affected. “The departure of 76 flights was delayed between 5 am and 7 pm on Thursday,” said a spokesperson for the Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL).

Most airline officials were restrained in their comments on the strike, but some expressed to Newsline their concerns that supply lines could dry up in the next three to four days. “We have a project team to handle the situation as it’s certainly very unusual. As far as supplies are concerned, we’ll take a call tomorrow as all efforts are on to make sure that supplies remain intact,” said CEO of Jet Airways, Wolfgang Prock-Schauer.

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