No flight operations at Srinagar airport for fourth day

For the fourth straight day today, air traffic to and from Srinagar international airport remained affected as no flight could either land or take-off due to bad weather.

"The air traffic has not resumed yet. No flight has either landed or taken-off from the airport this morning as well," Director, Airport Authority of India here, R K Shinde told PTI.

Shinde said bad weather was hampering the air traffic and all morning flights were delayed.

"The sun is playing hide and seek. The visibility is low. There is no clearance yet from the ATC, hence all morning flights have been delayed," he said.

The director, however, said no flight had been "declared cancelled" for the day.

"We will wait till afternoon to see if there is any improvement in the visibility. As of now, no flight has been declared as cancelled," he said.

The continuous disruptions have left many passengers, including tourists, stranded and caused inconvenience to many more who intended to fly out of the Valley.

"My uncle is ill and we had to take him to a hospital in Delhi. But we have been returning from the airport everyday for the last four days. Even as there is an improvement in the weather, no flight is taking off from the airport. We do not understand what is happening," Shabir Ahmad, who lives in the outskirts of the city here, said.

The foggy conditions persisted for the fourth day today.

The Meteorological Department here has predicted rains over the plains and snowfall over the higher reaches which could provide respite from foggy conditions.

The minimum temperature recorded in the summer capital Srinagar was 5.6 degrees Celsius - over a degree up from the previous night - an official of the Meteorological Department said.

He said Gulmarg ski-resort in north Kashmir recorded a low of minus 2.4 degrees Celsius and was the only place in the Valley where mercury stayed below the freezing point.