Expect more fog havoc
Fog caused large-scale flight disruptions yet again at New Delhi IGI Airport on Monday with 26 cancellations, 23 diversions from Delhi and delays to about 150 flights till Monday evening, resulting in severe inconvenience to thousands of passengers. Delhi airport sources admitted there were “some unruly scenes” at the airport on Monday due to the long delays and disruptions after passengers found the response of airline officials unsatisfactory on several occasions.
The fog set in at the airport at about 8.30 pm Sunday and continued into Monday Morning. During this period, when visibility even dipped to just 50 metres, low visibility procedures were put in place. Visibility improved significantly by 10.30 am Monday. Fog is again expected to set in late Monday evening and low visibility conditions could again prevail on Monday night and Tuesday morning at IGI Airport.
On Monday, irate passengers of a flight of a foreign low-cost carrier which had been diverted to Lucknow on Sunday were upset with the long delays after the flight landed late at Delhi on Monday. Flight operations to and from other airports in northern India, such as Chandigarh and Leh, were also affected. For instance Air India (domestic) cancelled a flight from Delhi to Leh on Monday morning that was scheduled to depart at 7.15 am. Private carrier JetLite also cancelled a flight from Delhi to Chandigarh on Monday.
International flights of India-based carriers were also affected due to snowfall and low visibility conditions plaguing Europe and the US. Jet Airways announced the cancellation of flights from Brussels to both New York and Newark (New Jersey) in the US on Monday. Air India had also earlier diverted its Sunday flight for New York to Washington following heavy snowfall at JFK Airport in New York.
The government, which had ordered several measures to minimise inconvenience to passengers on account of fog, had however made it clear on Sunday that flight delays and diversions were inevitable if visibility was below 50 metres (for aircraft to land) and below 125 metres (for aircraft to take off).
According to DIAL, the operator of New Delhi IGI Airport, a whopping 122 flights operated at Delhi airport on Monday using the CAT-IIIB Instrument Landing System with visibility conditions ranging from 50 metres to 200 metres. Flights were diverted to cities such as Lucknow, Jaipur and Ahmedabad. Cancellation of several flights from New Delhi took place in the period from midnight to about 10 am. Due to poor visibility at Delhi, airlines also cancelled several flights from other cities that were to operate to Delhi.
Apart from the nightmare that passengers are facing, airlines are also fearing huge losses, running into crores of rupees, on account of flight diversions, cancellations and delays. One factor that will contribute to the losses is the fuel spent by aircraft circling over Delhi due to low visibility, diversions to other cities and then the return to Delhi when visibility improves.
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