Suspected drone-like objects were spotted near Sri Guru Ram Das ji International Airport in Amritsar late on Sunday night, triggering a major security alert and a temporary suspension of operations, airport officials said. Anirudh Sharma, who holds additional charge of Airport Director, confirmed the sightings and said Air Traffic Control suspended operations at the airport from 9:50 to 11:15 am. Two arriving flights were diverted to Chandigarh and five were diverted to Delhi.
Drone sighting and immediate response
The suspected flying objects were seen outside the airport’s perimeter wall at around 10 pm, preliminary reports said. Sources said the objects appeared to approach the airport from the direction of Rudala village, hovered over the runway and other sensitive areas for a few minutes, and raised concerns about disruption to scheduled landings.
A joint action committee was activated and assembled in the control tower in line with the airport’s Standard Operating Procedure. According to Sharma, the committee determined that the reported drone activity could disrupt scheduled landings, and the airfield was closed briefly.
The security alert prompted the diversion of several flights. Affected services included Malaysia Airlines flight MH-118, en route from Kuala Lumpur to Amritsar, which was diverted to Delhi. Other listed affected flights were IndiGo 6E-5028 (Mumbai to Amritsar) and IndiGo 6E-2045 (Delhi to Amritsar), both diverted to Chandigarh, and Air India AI-479 (Delhi to Amritsar), diverted to Delhi.
The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), Punjab Police and other central security agencies were alerted following the sighting. Authorities noted that Amritsar is a border district and that the airport’s operating area is considered a highly sensitive zone.
