A thick blanket of fog covered Delhi and its neighboring regions on Friday, as North India continued to endure a severe cold wave. The dense fog caused widespread disruptions to flight and train schedules and significantly slowed road traffic, with visibility dropping to zero in several locations. Meanwhile, Delhi’s Air Quality Index (AQI) worsened to the ‘severe’ category, registering a level of 409.
Flight operation hits at Delhi Airport
At the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport, visibility plummeted to zero, severely impacting flight operations. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued an orange alert for the city, warning of adverse weather conditions. The IMD cautioned that such conditions “may affect airports, highways and railway routes and difficult driving conditions with slower journey times.”
In an advisory, the Delhi Airport stated, “Due to dense fog, there has been an impact on flight departures. However, flights which are CAT III compliant (capable of low visibility operation) are able to land and depart from Delhi airport.”
The situation at IGI Airport saw over 142 flight departures delayed, while three were cancelled, according to Flightradar24 website. Among arrivals, 40 flights faced delays, and one was cancelled, as per data available at 8 am. The average delay for departures stood at 50 minutes, while the arriving flights saw a delay of just 5 minutes.
The national capital’s Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) handles around 1,300 flight movements daily.
