Fog disrupts 142 flights at Delhi airport since Sunday

Schedules of around 90 domestic and international flights were delayed on Sunday and Monday, 52 flights had to be diverted

Dense fog at the international airport here has disrupted operations, leading to delays and diversions of 142 flights since Sunday.

While schedules of around 90 domestic and international flights were delayed on Sunday and Monday, 52 others had to be diverted as visibility at the runway dipped below 50 metres. This is the minimum visibility required for a CAT-IIIB-compliant aircraft to use the Instrument Landing System.

Said a senior airline executive, “Usually, the visibility required for landing at and departing from Delhi airport is 75 metres and 125 metres, respectively. With visibility dropping below 50 metres, operations were affected till around 8 am.” Fog started to envelop the airport around 6.30 pm on Sunday and it thickened by 8 pm. By 9.30 pm,general visibility was almost nil and runway visibility was below 50 metres. After 8 am on Monday morning, normal operations were resumed.

The metereological department said Delhi was seeing its second spell of dense fog this season. If the weather conditions persisted, fog this year could be as much as in 2010. Overall, the department has predicted 80-100 hours of fog, with 15-20 days of disruption, at the airport this season.

Airports Authority of India and Delhi International Airport Ltd say they’ve “integrated collaborative decision making or CDM procedures with each other”. CDM involves airport operators, airlines, ground handlers and Air Traffic Control sharing data through an automated system. Airports officials expect the combined decision making to help improve utilisation during the foggy period.