‘Worst Fog’ Hits Over 120 Delhi Flights On New Year Day

Flight services resumed at Delhi airports after fog halted services due to reduced visibility on New Year’s eve.

File image of a flight at Delhi Airport during fog. 

(Photo: AP)

Flight services at Delhi airport resumed on Monday, 1 January, after over 350 planes flying in and out of Delhi were delayed, diverted, or cancelled as the season's "worst" fog reduced visibility to 50 metres on New Year's Eve.

However, on 1 January, 11 flights were cancelled and 125 flights were delayed due to low visibility in the city.

Over 270 flights were delayed, nearly 50 diverted and an estimated 35 cancelled. No flight could take off from the airport for nearly four hours between 7.30 am and 11.05 am, an airport official said.

Take-offs from the IGI Airport require a minimum visibility range of 125 metres.

However, as the Delhi airport has advanced technology for low-visibility landings, called the CAT IIIB system (short for category three), aircrafts qualified to land in visibility of 25-50 metres could arrive.

There were, however, nearly 50 diversions to nearby airports as many pilots deployed by airlines were not trained in CAT IIIB instrument landing system, the source said.

"Runway visibility since 5.30 am has been between 50-75 metres. This is so far the worst fog we have experienced this year," RK Jenamani, Director, India Meteorological Department, Delhi area and IGI Airport said.

Train services were also affected – 15 trains were cancelled, 56 were delayed and 20 were rescheduled. The Skymet Weather Service said most of the northwestern plains were enveloped by thick fog and the day temperature would fall significantly.

An official from the Met department termed it the "worst" fog of the season.

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