Fog disrupts 67 flights at KIA, over 400 this season

The season of fogs continued its disruptive streak at the Kempegowda International Airport, playing havoc with the schedules of 67 flights early Friday morning. With this, the number of flights disrupted has crossed 400 this season.

The departure of as many as 45 flights was delayed as a thick blanket of fog enveloped KIA and its airfield, reducing visibility to a point where operations would be risky. As visibility dropped below 2,500 metres, a visibility standby was declared as early as 3.33 am. It was withdrawn six hours later at 9.32 am.

The existing runway, with only a Category-I Instrument Landing System (ILS), cannot aid pilots to safely land when visibility drops.

The arrival of 21 flights was also delayed. A BlueDart cargo flight was diverted to Chennai. Airport operations were suspended at 5.44 am and resumed at 6.49 am.

As hundreds of waiting passengers were crammed into the limited space in the departure terminal, many took to social media to vent out their frustration.

One of them, Divesh Verma, tweeted at 6 am: “My Air Vistara flight UK 816 from Bangalore is already delayed by 4 hours now, with no information further. At least provide lunch if you can’t do any better. Pathetic situation at airport.”

The airline apologised for the inconvenience caused. “Flight UK816 was delayed due to bad weather in Bengaluru and Delhi. Unfortunately, such delays are beyond our control. Our staff was available for assistance and refreshment was also served at the airport,” it responded.