Fog hits 46 flight operations at KIA

Poor visibility due to early morning fog disrupted as many as 46 flights at the Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) here on Wednesday.

KIA spokespersons said the departure of 23 flights and arrival of 13 flights were delayed.

Six incoming flights were diverted to nearby destinations and four flights were cancelled - one arrival and three departures.

All flight operations were suspended between 7.20 am and 8.29 am as the visibility dropped beyond safe landing/take-off limits.

The operations resumed soon after, and passengers were not inconvenienced as badly as on Monday when the fog had affected 140 flight schedules. Sixty-three of them were departures and 54 arrivals.

KIA has been hit by fog-related disruptions frequently this season. The trend is expected to continue until the first week of February.

The annual problem is likely to be resolved only after the commissioning of the second runway, scheduled for completion in September 2019.

The new runway will be equipped with Category III B Instrument Landing System, enabling flights to land safely even if the visibility is poor.