Departures put on hold at Delhi airport for 2 hrs due to dense fog

Dense fog enveloped several parts of the national capital Thursday, leading to disruption in flight operations at the Indira Gandhi International Airport here for two hours.

According to a source, departures were put on hold from 7.30 am to 9.30 am due to low visibility conditions.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's flight to Jalandhar was delayed too.

"I wanted to be here on time but because of the fog I got delayed," the PM said during his speech at the Indian Science Congress in Jalandhar.

"Departures were put on hold from 7.30 am to around 9.30 am because of low visibility due to fog. In this two-hour period, arrivals were operating as usual. The departures resumed at around 9.30 am when the visibility became better," the source said.

The minimum visibility required for take off is 125 metres.

The Palam observatory recorded a visibility of 50 metres at 8.30 am, while at the Safdarjung observatory, it was recorded as 350 metres.

"Total 10 flights were diverted from Delhi airport between 7.30 am and 9.30 am. Most of these diversions happened due to pilot non-compliance," the source said.

According to the Meteorological Department, the minimum temperature settled at 6.7 degrees Celsius, a notch below the season's average.

The humidity level was recorded at 100 per cent.

The weather office has predicted clear skies throughout the day and the maximum temperature is expected to settle around 23 degrees Celsius.