New Delhi: Operations at IGI airport in New Delhi came to a standstill as dense fog engulfed the city for the second consecutive day on Tuesday, affecting over 90 domestic and international flights.
The fog attack hit parts of North India – including Punjab, Delhi, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and north-west Rajasthan – early on the day. Amritsar, Banaras and Lucknow are the worst hit areas.
Rail traffic was affected as well and many trains were delayed.
The flights, scheduled around 5 AM, were disrupted as visibility on all the three runways were below 50 metres, airport officials said.
Around 40 domestic and international flights, arriving and departing from Delhi, were delayed by up to two to three hours. Some arriving flights were diverted while two were cancelled.
The fog started to become dense around 5 AM and the visibility at the airport went below 50 metres, the minimum required for landing under poor visibility conditions using the CAT-III B instrument landing system (ILS).
The minimum visibility for an aircraft to take off under low visibility conditions are between 125 to 150 metres, depending on the size of the plane.
On Monday, schedules of around 140 flights were badly affected after Delhi witnessed the winter’s first fog. Nine flights were diverted while eight were cancelled.
