Gloomy start to New Year as fog disrupts flight operations

It was an unpleasant beginning of the New Year for passengers travelling from the Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) as a dense blanket of fog and near-zero visibility disrupted operations of 99 flights on Sunday.

The fog delayed 78 flights departing from KIA and eight flights arriving at the airport. Such disruptions are likely to continue as the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast dense fog for at least four more days.

A Blue Dart aviation flight from New Delhi, a British Airways flight from London and an Air Asia flight had to be diverted to airports in neighbouring cities. Operations were suspended at 4.45 am and resumed at 8.49 am.

Four departures and arrivals each of Indigo Airlines had to be cancelled due to the fog. One Jet Airways flight departing from and another arriving at KIA were also
cancelled.

The morning disruption had a cascading effect on flight schedules in the afternoon. Passengers had to wait for hours in the departure lounges.

Over the last week, hundreds of flights have been disrupted due to dense fog.

According to predictions by the IMD, conditions of fog early in the morning will persist till January 5 with minimum temperatures hovering between 14 and 15 degrees Celsius. The fog will clear later in the day. However, the skies, IMD says, will be mainly clear on January 6 and 7.