Oil companies had deployed senior officials at airports to oversee fuelling. But since these officers were new to this operation, as were the specially deployed Territorial Army personnel, refuelling got slower and some flights were delayed.
The Mumbai airport, which saw 76 delays on Thursday, said 10 to 12 flights were affected on Friday due to delayed refuelling. Others like Delhi and Kolkata airports also saw sporadic delays on this count.
‘‘There were a number of delayed arrivals from Mumbai and Kolkata because of which there were consequential delays from here due to the late arrival of aircraft. While the number was not very high, the strike’s impact was felt in Delhi as well,’’ said an official here.
The aviation ministry pointed out that airports were not crippled as only Indian Oil Corporation was the worst hit by the strike while other PSUs were either functioning normally or not seeing a complete strike. Moreover, private oil companies like Reliance were working as usual.
But airlines and airport operators admit that things could have worsened.