While efforts were being made to relieve airport congestion in New Delhi during a busy holiday season, a severe fog that blanketed most of north India added to the difficulties faced by air travellers. On Wednesday, aviation activity was again hampered by the poor visibility plaguing the country’s north for the past few days. Up to 100 flights have been impacted in Delhi alone as the city continues to struggle with extremely chilly conditions and Wednesday’s thick fog.
“Due to bad weather (fog) for three days, over 100 flights are reported delayed from and to Delhi airport, some have also been diverted to the nearest airport,” a Delhi airport official told ANI. The Delhi airport official claims that one further factor contributing to the flight delays is the fact that certain airlines have not yet sent out their CAT-III compliant pilots.
Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) advised passengers on Tuesday to check their flight status with the airline concerned as flight operations at Delhi airport were only for CAT-III compliant ones.
“While landing and take-offs are continuing at Delhi airport, flights that are not CAT-III compliant may get affected. Passengers are requested to contact the airline concerned for the updated flight information,” DIAL said.CAT-III Instrument Landing System (ILS) allows flights to land safely in low visibility. CAT III-B ILS allows aircraft to land with a runway visual range (RVR) of up to 50m with a decision height of 15m.
According to Flight Information Display System (FIDS) at Delhi airport, over 18 flights status are delayed till 12:00 Hrs which is majorly operating in north India`s airport from Delhi. However, arrivals flights are showing on time.
On Tuesday, flight services were affected at West Bengal`s Bagdogra airport for around six hours as dense fog reduced visibility. The disruption caused inconvenience to hundreds of passengers. On Tuesday, Vistara, SpiceJet, and IndiGo expressed regret for the delay and diversion.”Early morning Fog in Delhi has caused massive delays across the network. We`re trying our best to minimize the inconvenience caused..,” IndiGo said on Tuesday.
Bureau Report
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