New Delhi, Dec 30 (.) Dense fog continued to envelope the national capital during the early hours on Tuesday, affecting arrivals and departures of flights at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport.
Visibility dropped as low as 50 meters at Palam, impacting the landing of flights.
A total of 134 flights were affected in the early hours, including 118 cancellations and 16 diversions. Among these, 60 arrivals and 58 departures had to be cancelled.
In its advisory for the passengers, the Ministry of Civil Aviation stated, “Amid prevailing fog and low-visibility conditions impacting flights in parts of Northern India, passengers are advised to proactively check flight status, remain in contact with their airlines and allow extra travel time.”
“Airlines have been instructed to strictly comply with passenger facilitation norms, including timely flight information, meals for delayed passengers, rebooking or refunds in case of cancellations, no denial of boarding after timely check-in, baggage facilitation and prompt grievance redressal,” the advisory added.
The ministry assured passengers that it remains committed to their safety, convenience and well-being, and is closely monitoring the situation.
Meanwhile, the visibility was the lowest between 0000 hours to 0230 hours, as per the weather agency.
In its advisory to the passengers on Tuesday morning, Delhi airport said that, “All flight operations continue as normal at Delhì Airport, flights that are not CAT III compliant may get affected.”
During dense fog conditions, the standard landing procedure is switched to CAT-III mode, allowing compliant flights to land amid low visibility.
According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), there is a likelihood of dense fog on Wednesday morning. The Regional Meteorological Centre, New Delhi, predicted moderate fog at many places in the city, with dense fog at isolated locations during the morning hours.
Talking of the NCR cities, Gurugram, Noida, Ghaziabad and Greater Noida also witnessed a foggy morning, while road traffic also moved at a slow pace amid affected visibility.
A commuter who travels for work from Noida to Delhi told the news agency that visibility on the road was affected due to fog, while people drove cautiously with the blinkers on.
. APS .
