The chaos already in place due to a closed runway and ongoing Air Traffic Control (ATC) congestion
Smog continued to disrupt flight operations at the Indira Gandhi International Airport for the third day running on Thursday and added to the chaos already in place due to a closed runway and ongoing Air Traffic Control (ATC) congestion.
More than 150 flights, including both departures and arrivals, were affected as the visibility dipped at the airport during the early hours on Thursday. More than 90 trains were also affected.
According to airport officials, however, no diversions or flight cancellations were reported on Thursday, unlike Tuesday and Wednesday when the airport witnessed major air traffic menace with over 500 flight delays and diversions.
"Low visibility led to slowing down of air traffic, eventually causing backlog resulting in congestion in air traffic. As the main runway that is CAT III capable, is unavailable due to ongoing maintenance, runway 27-9 which is not as equipped, is bearing the traffic pressure with runway 28-10. Flights witnessed delay ranging from 30 minutes to more than an hour," said a senior officer.
The menace is, however, expected to worsen as the fog is likely to thicken with the winters approaching. DIAL, the airport operator, had informed in advance that its new runway 29-11 would remain shut for three days, from November 7 to 10.
This, the officials said, has also added to the slowdown of air traffic.
Officials said that keeping in mind fog and adverse weather conditions that are expected in future, they have planned to undertake several measures to ensure passenger convenience.
Deployment of additional traffic marshals for smooth taxi flow during fog, adequate lighting in the car parking areas and increased airport patrol vehicles fitted with radio sets and beacons are some of the measures that will be taken to ensure smoothness on the city side.
"Display of weather information inside terminals, additional conspicuous help desks at entry gates where information on cancellations and delays will be displayed and additional seating capacity in the terminal building will be ensured. Apart from this, airlines will be briefed for deployment of additional staff for appropriate manning of check-in counters, and boarding gate areas during the fog season," the officer said.
Meanwhile, more than 90 trains were affected in the Delhi region due to adverse weather conditions and operational reasons. This left many passengers stranded at the railway stations across the Capital, leading to overcrowding.
Neeraj Sharma, Chief Public Relations Officer, Northern Railways, said that 56 arrivals were delayed while 25 trains had to be rescheduled. Further, he said that 10 cancellations were reported on Thursday.
"Adequate arrangements and security are being ensured to manage the situation," Sharma added.
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