India, May 26 -- Gusty winds of speeds over 80km/hr ripped through Delhi on the intervening night of Saturday and Sunday, bringing with it severe thunderstorms and heavy rainfall-all of which created unfavourable conditions for flight operations, delaying over 400 flights through the day and leading to tens of diversions, officials aware of the developments said.

Airport officials said the diversions were necessitated from 11.30pm on Saturday, and continued until around 4am on Sunday. The average delay time of each flight was 27 minutes, according to flight tracking website FlightRadar24.

"A total of 49 flights, including 17 international flights, were diverted due to this period," an airport official said, adding that delays continued ...