Fog paralyses Delhi-NCR, North India
North India, including Delhi-NCR, came to a standstill on Monday with visibility almost zero due to a thick fog. It severely disrupted the schedule of flights and trains, besides rendering driving on roads highly risky. The met department has forecast that similar conditions are likely to prevail for the next two to three days.
At Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport, at least 130 flights were cancelled, eight diverted, and nearly 250 delayed, leaving thousands of passengers stranded and prompting authorities to issue an advisory that low-visibility procedures were in force.
An official said 64 departures and 64 arrivals were cancelled, while eight flights got diverted due to dense fog and low visibility conditions at the Delhi airport. The airports like Varanasi, Chandigarh, Amritsar and Srinagar were also affected due to fog.
Several flights were cancelled and delayed due to poor visibility. IndiGo on Monday cancelled 118 flights across its network due to bad weather and operational reasons, according to its website. Of these, six flight services were axed due to operational reasons, while the rest were cancelled due to bad weather conditions at various airports. Flight services were cancelled at
Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Cochin, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Amritsar, Chandigarh, Jaipur, Dehradun and Indore.
“Foggy conditions remain in place across Delhi and several airports in northern India, with visibility yet to improve fully. As a result, the earlier impact on flight movements is likely to extend into the noon hours, and some delays may continue. We assure you that flight departures and arrivals are being sequenced to ensure steady and orderly movement, while keeping your journey and comfort in mind. Our airport teams are present at key touch points and right here to assist, should you require any support along the way. Thank you sincerely for your patience and understanding, and we wish you a comfortable and pleasant journey ahead. For flight status, please visit http://bit.ly/3ZWAQXd,” IndiGo said in the morning in a post on X.
In the advisory posted on X, however, IndiGo did not say it had cancelled 80 flights on Monday.
Delhi airport operator DIAL, in a post on X, said runway visibility is improving, but some flight departures and arrivals may be impacted. Information on the flight-tracking website Flightradar24.Com showed that nearly 250 flights were delayed, with an average departure delay of around 24 minutes. According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the current visibility at Indira Gandhi International Airport was 1,000 metres at 2.00 pm IST on Monday.
Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL) operates the national Capital’s Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA), which handles around 1,300 flight movements daily.
“Due to persistent dense fog, flight operations continue to remain under CAT III conditions, which may result in flight delays. For the most up-to-date flight information, we request you to contact your respective airlines or visit our website,” Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL) said in the passenger advisory issued on Monday morning. As part of the DGCA fog operations (CAT-IIIB) norms, airlines must mandatorily roster pilots trained to operate in low-visibility conditions and deploy a CAT-IIIB-compliant aircraft fleet for such operations. Category-III is an advanced navigation system that empowers an aircraft to land under foggy conditions.
Category-III-A is a precision instrument approach and landing that enables a plane to land with a runway visual range (RVR) of 200 metres, while Category-III-B helps in landing with an RVR of under 50 metres.
