India, April 20 -- The civil aviation ministry is likely to direct the Delhi airport to pause the ongoing work on one of its runways that has been blamed as a key factor behind massive flight delays and operational disruptions over the past two weeks, officials familiar with the development said.

An advisory committee meeting called on Friday discussed the scheduling chaos and there was consensus on a pause. "The advisory committee had a meeting on Friday, and it has been decided that the runway work at Delhi airport should be temporarily suspended," one of the officials told HT.

The director general of civil aviation and the ministry of civil aviation are likely to sign off on the halt soon, following which a formal direction will be i...