The national capital recorded its worst fog yet this season with zero visibility conditions for nine hours from mid-night hampering flight operations at Indira Gandhi International airport where over 100 flights were delayed, 19 diverted.
Intense foggy conditions also prevailed over Punjab, Haryana, parts of Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Tripura, Assam, Meghalaya and Mizoram.
In New Delhi, zero visibility conditions prevailed between 11.30 p.m. on January 3 till 8.30 a.m. on January 4, according to IMD Scientist R K Jenamani. This meant that flight departures and arrivals came to a halt intermittently, as the runway visual range (visibility for pilots in an aircraft aided by lights on the runway) remained between 100 to 250 metres throughout and even dropped to below 50 meters rendering even landings with most advanced aids difficult.
Nearly 108 flight departures and 48 arrivals were delayed till 8am, according to flight tracking website Flightradar 24.
“Dense fog continues to affect visibility in Delhi, Chandigarh, Srinagar, Guwahati and Patna even during daytime hours. We understand that the resulting delays and changes to your travel schedule may be inconvenient,” IndiGo posted on X
“While landing and takeoffs continue at Delhi Airport, flights that are not CAT III compliant may get affected. Passengers are requested to contact the airline concerned for updated flight information. Any inconvenience caused is deeply regretted,” the Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL) said in a post on X at 6.56 a.m.
CAT III facility allows aircraft to operate in low visibility conditions.
Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) is operated by DIAL.
“#6ETravelAdvisory: Departures and arrivals at #DelhiAirport are currently on hold due to reduced visibility,” IndiGo said in a post on X at 1.05 am on Saturday.
Air India said in an update on X at 1.16 a.m. that poor visibility due to dense fog is impacting flight operations in Delhi and parts of northern India.
On Friday, more than 400 flights were delayed due to bad weather conditions at the airport.
Between 6 a.m. and 8 p.m., there were 303 flights delayed by more than 45 minutes at IGI airport as per flight tracking website flightradar24. These include 73 arrivals and 230 departures that faced delays of over 45 minutes.
(with inputs from PTI)
Published – January 04, 2025 07:34 am IST
