Fog delays 60 flights; expect relief today but it may return before X-mas

The dense fog delayed at least 60 flights on Friday morning at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA). It could have been worse but an early fog forecast alert helped the airlines reschedule flights accordingly.

The dense fog delayed at least 60 flights on Friday morning at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA).

-A-passenger-plane-waits-to-take-off-as-fog-begins-to-clear-at-the-Indira-Gandhi-International-Airport-in-New-Delhi

It could have been worse but an early fog forecast alert helped the airlines reschedule flights accordingly.

On Friday, over 100 flights continued to operate even when the visibility on the runway was hovering from 250 metres to 500 metres. To operate under visibility below 800 metres, flights have to be equipped with CAT.

Even though the situation was better than last year, passengers whose flights were delayed complained. Usha Krishnan, 53, arrived one hour late from Air India’s Mumbai- Delhi flight on Friday morning. “Due to the bad weather in the capital, those of us who coming from outside Delhi are reaching late,” she said .

Dhirendra Mehta, whose flight was delayed by nearly two hours on Friday, missed his train.

“I did not know the flight would be delayed for such a long time. I rushed to New Delhi railway station by paying extra to the cab driver, yet I missed my Mumbai-bound train. Now I am back at the airport to book a flight to Mumbai. This is proving to be very expensive.”

According to Met department officials, there may be temporary respite after Saturday but dense fog will return before Christmas.

“With a new western disturbance coming, fog may re-intensify from Monday morning. There will be some respite on Tuesday afternoon but fog will increase from Wednesday night,” said RK Jenamani, IGIA Met department director.