Dense fog envelops IGI airport, 130 flights hit

Dense fog continued to disrupt air traffic for the third day on Wednesday in the national capital, hitting the schedule of over 130 domestic and international flights and causing inconvenience to travellers.

Poor visibility at the main (28/10) as well as third (29/11) runways halted the flight operations on Wednesday also, leading to delay in the schedule of flights by three-to-four hours and cancellation of 34 departing, as well as arriving,  flights.

The runway visibility was almost good at night and operations were smooth but it started to deteriorate after 6:30 am and take-offs were suspended as runway visibility dropped to less than 125 metres, the required minimum for the low visibility take off (LVTO), an airport official said.

Planes arriving at Delhi airport were able to land using the CAT-III B instrument landing system (ILS), but it was also stopped as the visibility at the one end of the runway went below 50 metres around 7:30 am, the official said.

Since the take-offs were suspended after 6:30 am, flights scheduled to depart after that were put on hold due to which schedules of around 130 domestic and international flights were delayed.

Out of a total of 34, two departing flights from here were cancelled due to poor weather, while 14 were due to airline’s operational reason.

Also, three flights arriving here were cancelled due to poor weather at Delhi, while 15 due to operational reasons, a statement from airport operator DIAL said.