Mumbai, Delhi grounded by fog

Delhi's foggy weather hits Mumbai flights with about 10,000 passengers affected, reports Lalatendu Mishra.

The dense fog that has engulfed Delhi airport left air services on the Mumbai-Delhi sector in disarray on Tuesday.

In Mumbai, over 10,000 passengers were affected as 40 flights were delayed and eight were cancelled.

The Mumbai-Delhi sector is the busiest in the country, with about 100 flights a day, followed by Delhi-Chennai, which has about 80 flights.

Stranded passengers in Mumbai directed their anger at airline officials. One incident was symptomatic of the mood. Air Deccan passenger Dheeraj Malhotra opened the emergency exit on a plane that was grounded in Mumbai after its journey to Delhi was cut short, resulting in his arrest and a huge loss to the airline.

Hundreds of passengers lost their temper and airline officials had a tough time pacifying them, pleading that they had no control over the fog in Delhi. "The situation is compounded by the heavy passenger traffic. Passengers get irrational at times like these. They must understand that we can't do anything," said an official, requesting anonymity.

Jet Airways and Indian operated special flights on the Mumbai-Delhi sector are to make up for the backlog. "We pressed an A-340 with a capacity of 269 into service. It eased the pressure," said a Jet spokesman. Indian operated three special flights out of Mumbai.

In Delhi, the dense fog that engulfed the airport at 8.40 pm on Sunday and continued till Tuesday meant that only 430 flights could take off or land as compared to the 900 that the period would have normally seen. At least 88 flights were cancelled, while 61 had to be diverted and 19 rescheduled.

Saroj Singh (70), a Delhi resident travelling to Mumbai, was among those who were stranded. "My son dropped me at the airport and went to office. Now the airline has suddenly cancelled the flight. How will I go back home, which is 32 km away?" she said.

Though visibility had improved in Delhi, dense fog was expected late on Tuesday with a possibility of flight disruptions again on Wednesday.

Email Lalatendu Mishra: lalatendu.mishra@hindustantimes.com

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