Fog disrupts 200 flights in Delhi

NEW DELHI: Over 200 flights were disrupted and 18 diverted from Indira Gandhi International Airport after a thick fog enveloped the capital’s skyline on Wednesday morning, leaving thousands of passengers in disarray. The met department has predicted fog on Thursday too.

Airport officials said low visibility procedures were announced around 5.55 am when the runway visual range (RVR) plummeted 375 metres, leaving only one runway for use.

“After 6 am the RVR fell further below 100 metres and only CAT-III B compliant aircraft could take off. The low visibility disrupted flights for five hours,” said a senior airport official, adding that during the period, 18 flights were diverted to Lucknow, Jaipur, Ahmedabad and other destinations.

There was complete chaos at the airport for over five hours because all early-morning domestic flights were delayed at least till 11 am. Five international flights were diverted to Ahmedabad, Mumbai and Karachi and 13 Delhi-bound domestic flights were diverted to Jaipur, Mumbai and nearby airports. Jet Airways’ four flights to Leh, Srinagar and Jammu and two Kingfisher flights bound for Agra and Srinagar were cancelled. Another two flights to Srinagar of SpiceJet and Indian were also cancelled.

Normalcy was restored around 11.05 am.

k_yogesh@dnaindia.net