Harrowed passengers were seen struggling with baggage trolleys, barely finding room to sit for their long hours of wait.
NEW DELHI/BANGALORE: The Delhi airport bore a grim look with a dense layer of fog weighing down on the high spirits of Christmas travellers in the Capital on Saturday. Harrowed passengers were seen struggling with baggage trolleys, barely finding room to sit for their long hours of wait.
Around 55 flights, including international and domestic, were delayed with the average delays lasting three to four hours. At the receiving end were President Abdul Kalam and external affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee. Kalam was reportedly stranded for two hours. Saturday was the worst hit with visibility going down to zero between 7 and 8 am.
A Delhi International Airport limited official said, “With visibility going down to almost zero, even CAT III B could not be used and even international airlines suffered delays on Saturday.”
According to the Delhi meteorological department, fog will continue to play spoilsport on Sunday as well. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation had issued a directive at the start of winter season to reschedule the flight timings during winter. Accordingly, the domestic airlines have already started rescheduling the flight timings in and out of Delhi, predicting the fog to last for a few days more. “But, we will provide free food to the passengers in the case of flight delays,” said Warwick Brady, chief operating officer of Air Deccan.
However, Indian flights will operate using CAT-IIIB, in the case of low visibility, their spokesperson said.
Airlines are sending out SMSs to passengers to keep them informed about delayed departures. While low cost airlines are not offering any perks, full fare passengers can look forward to being offered meals and accommodation. “We have limited the accommodation facility to only premier class passengers. For others, we will offer meals and compensate them so that they can take care of their own accommodation. We have already issued pamphlets informing passengers availing lower fares to not expect compensation in case of delays,” informed a Jet Airways spokesperson.
With passenger traffic increasing, and most pilots not being trained in the CAT IIIB technology, the situation has worsened. A Jet airways official said, “The problem cannot be solved so easily. CAT III B training can be imparted on senior pilots. Unless someone has gone through CAT II B, how can we skip to the other level? It takes three months for one level of training to be imparted at the cost of upto Rs 8 lakh.”
The international passengers will have to bear the wrath of the fog for some more time. Alitalia, Air India, Air Astana, Royal Jordania are diverting flights to Mumbai and Karachi.
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