Fog hits over 300 flights in Delhi, brace for more today
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
New Delhi: 04.01.2019
PM Narendra Modi’s flight to Jalandhar was among more than 300 flights delayed as dense fog prevented departures from IGI Airport for over two hours on Thursday morning. Ten incoming flights had to be diverted to other airports and six were cancelled.
No flight took off between 7.30am to 9.30am, leading to cascading delays that saw some flights stuck on the runway for two to three hours. BJP general secretary Ram Madhav was among those stuck. “CAT3 etc notwithstanding, stuck in the aircraft for last 3 hrs with absolutely no info. ATC too unable to tell
when the flight will get clearance. Fog in Delhi can cripple air movement at12noon. No technology can conquer nature,” Madhav tweeted.
From Chennai, 17 flights were delayed. Delays and cancellations also led to an increase in airfare by 28% from Delhi. “Last-minute fares for flights from Delhi to key routes including Chennai, Pune, Mumbai, Kolkata and Hyderabad have seen an average spike of 28%. This is primarily due to delays and cancellations caused by fog and low visibility. We have also witnessed a 20% increase in flight cancellations by travellers, to and from Delhi, between January 1and 3,” said Aloke Bajpai, CEO, co-founder, Ixigo.
Flights headed to Delhi delayed due to congestion at airport
The Met office said dense fog is likely on Friday as well, with high moisture in the air due to an active western disturbance. It said the Runway Visual Range (RVR) was between 75-100 metres for a two-hour period when no flights took off. However, CAT-IIIB compliant flights could land.
A minimum visibility of 125 metres is required for flights to take off, while it should be at least 50 metres if flights have to land. Flights headed to the capital too were delayed due to heavy congestion over the airport, resulting in late arrivals. While visibility was around 200 metres in the morning at Safdarjung, it fell to 25 metres at Palam, according to the regional met office.
“A total of 10 flights were diverted. These diversions are very less as compared to fog days of similar intensity last season. There was shallow to moderate fog in Delhi in the last few days of December with the RVR being above 500-800 metres due to which aviation operations went on smoothly,” said a senior Met official at IGI airport.
IGI’s Met department had earlier forecast at least threefour spells of dense fog during January when flight operations could be impacted for several hours.
A DIAL spokesperson said low visibility procedures (LVP) lasted for around 10 hours. According to sources, flights were diverted mainly to Jaipur and Lucknow.
Several airlines also took to Twitter to inform passengers about possible flight delays and diversions, also asking them to check their flight status through apps and websites.
Spicejet tweeted, “#WeatherUpdate: Due to bad weather at Delhi (DEL), all departures/arrivals and their consequential flights might get affected. The passengers are requested to keep a check on their flight status via spicejet.com.”
Vistara also tweeted, “Severe delays have resulted from dense fog and runway closure this morning at Delhi that has created a departures and arrivals backlog that will take time to clear. Cancellations also possible as day progresses.”
› Cancellations and delays make flights more costly, P 5 Several airlines also took to Twitter to inform passengers about possible flight delays and diversions, also asking them to check their flight status through apps and websites
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
New Delhi: 04.01.2019
PM Narendra Modi’s flight to Jalandhar was among more than 300 flights delayed as dense fog prevented departures from IGI Airport for over two hours on Thursday morning. Ten incoming flights had to be diverted to other airports and six were cancelled.
No flight took off between 7.30am to 9.30am, leading to cascading delays that saw some flights stuck on the runway for two to three hours. BJP general secretary Ram Madhav was among those stuck. “CAT3 etc notwithstanding, stuck in the aircraft for last 3 hrs with absolutely no info. ATC too unable to tell
when the flight will get clearance. Fog in Delhi can cripple air movement at12noon. No technology can conquer nature,” Madhav tweeted.
From Chennai, 17 flights were delayed. Delays and cancellations also led to an increase in airfare by 28% from Delhi. “Last-minute fares for flights from Delhi to key routes including Chennai, Pune, Mumbai, Kolkata and Hyderabad have seen an average spike of 28%. This is primarily due to delays and cancellations caused by fog and low visibility. We have also witnessed a 20% increase in flight cancellations by travellers, to and from Delhi, between January 1and 3,” said Aloke Bajpai, CEO, co-founder, Ixigo.
Flights headed to Delhi delayed due to congestion at airport
The Met office said dense fog is likely on Friday as well, with high moisture in the air due to an active western disturbance. It said the Runway Visual Range (RVR) was between 75-100 metres for a two-hour period when no flights took off. However, CAT-IIIB compliant flights could land.
A minimum visibility of 125 metres is required for flights to take off, while it should be at least 50 metres if flights have to land. Flights headed to the capital too were delayed due to heavy congestion over the airport, resulting in late arrivals. While visibility was around 200 metres in the morning at Safdarjung, it fell to 25 metres at Palam, according to the regional met office.
“A total of 10 flights were diverted. These diversions are very less as compared to fog days of similar intensity last season. There was shallow to moderate fog in Delhi in the last few days of December with the RVR being above 500-800 metres due to which aviation operations went on smoothly,” said a senior Met official at IGI airport.
IGI’s Met department had earlier forecast at least threefour spells of dense fog during January when flight operations could be impacted for several hours.
A DIAL spokesperson said low visibility procedures (LVP) lasted for around 10 hours. According to sources, flights were diverted mainly to Jaipur and Lucknow.
Several airlines also took to Twitter to inform passengers about possible flight delays and diversions, also asking them to check their flight status through apps and websites.
Spicejet tweeted, “#WeatherUpdate: Due to bad weather at Delhi (DEL), all departures/arrivals and their consequential flights might get affected. The passengers are requested to keep a check on their flight status via spicejet.com.”
Vistara also tweeted, “Severe delays have resulted from dense fog and runway closure this morning at Delhi that has created a departures and arrivals backlog that will take time to clear. Cancellations also possible as day progresses.”
› Cancellations and delays make flights more costly, P 5 Several airlines also took to Twitter to inform passengers about possible flight delays and diversions, also asking them to check their flight status through apps and websites
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