Fog returns to disrupt flight operations

Air operations at the IGI airport were disrupted on Tuesday due to dense fog, affecting the schedules of over 35 domestic and international flights.

Air operations at the IGI airport were disrupted on Tuesday due to dense fog, affecting the schedules of over 35 domestic and international flights.

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"After a clear day on Monday, IGI airport was blanketed with dense fog leading to cancellations of 11 flights. Twenty-four inbound and outbound flights were rescheduled and two were diverted as the runway visibility dropped to 150 metres late last night," an airport official said.

Fog started to descend on the airport around 10.30 pm and the runway visibility started to deteriorate forcing the airport authorities to implement low visibility procedures and flights were operating with the help of instrument landing system.

The runway visibility further dropped to less than 150 metres around midnight, disrupting the schedules of international flights.

Flights from Dubai, Kuwait, Abu Dhabi, Singapore and Beijing were delayed by upto three to four hours. Due to this, outbound flights to these destinations had to be rescheduled, sources said.

Though visibility improved in the wee hours and the runway visibility increased to 1500 metres for the main runway and hovered around 500 metres for the new runway, it once again dipped to a low of 950 metres and 350 metres in the morning.

Eight domestic flights to Srinagar, Amritsar, Imphal, Patna and Allahabad were either delayed or rescheduled due to poor weather conditions in those cities.

Some flights, which were scheduled to arrive late at night, were also rescheduled due to poor visibility at the Delhi airport, sources said.