Fog disrupts 73 flights at KIA

Poor visibility due to fog disrupted 73 flight operations at the Kempegowda International Airport here on Monday morning.

The departure of 46 flights was delayed as visibility of the runway dropped to near zero. An airport spokesperson said poor weather condition also delayed the arrival of 25 flights. At least two flights were diverted to other airports.

The delays had a cascading effect on other flights. The airport had announced closure of its runway for upgrade from morning till 5 pm, a restriction that will be effective till April 30. Although various airlines had kept the passengers in the loop about the delays, many took to social media to vent their frustration. One of them, Lokesh Pai, tweeted that he was stuck for two hours at the airport, waiting for a flight to Mumbai.

Many were worried that any delay beyond 10.30 am would turn their schedules topsy-turvy since the runway is shut after that time. A passenger, Siddharth Kothari, had no choice but to wait inside the flight, after it was diverted to Chennai airport.

“Am stuck inside the plane for the last 100 minutes,” he said. Fog-related delays are expected to come down after the runway is upgraded and a second runway built with a better Instrument Landing System.

KIA has only Category-I ILS that requires a runway visual range (RVR) of 550 metres. A Category-III system will help an aircraft to land in RVR of 50 metres and above.