The Leh airport was shut for operations on Tuesday after the runway was blocked by an Indian Air Force C-17 Globemaster III heavy-lifter facing technical glitches, said officials familiar with the matter, with the closure forcing two flights to be diverted and several more to be cancelled.
The incident involving the Boeing-made heavy-lifter, imported from the United States, has drawn attention to the possible impact of such a closure on logistics supply in a sensitive sector, even as officials said contingency plans were in place to carry out operations from other air bases if required. The Leh airport, like some others in India, is a military one that is also used for passenger flights.
IAF has used the Leh airport extensively to support the military’s high-altitude deployments in Ladakh amid the dragging row with China along the Line of Actual Control (LAC).
