As dense fog continued to reduce visibility at the Delhi airport on the second day, several flights got delayed and those coming to Delhi had to be diverted to other airports in the morning hours on Tuesday.
The flights that got affected were those not compliant with the CAT- III — a system in the aviation sector which refers to a kind of an instrument landing system approach that allows for landing in affected visibility conditions due to fog, rain and difficult weather conditions.
The authorities also issued an advisory for the passengers in the morning, requesting them to check with the airlines concerned about the revised flight timings.
Delhi Airport in its advisory said, “While landing and take-offs continue at Delhi Airport, flights that are not CAT III compliant may get affected. Passengers are requested to contact the airline concerned for updated flight information. Any inconvenience caused is deeply regretted.”
As per the airport’s flight Information display data, there were delays in both arrivals and departures for over 20 flights.
According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the visibility was reduced to as low as 50 meters due to the dense fog in the morning at the Delhi airport.
An IMD official said that the visibility remained affected between 7 am to 10 am at the airport, which improved later on.
The national capital is likely to experience fog conditions till December 28, the weatherman said.
The delay and diversions of the flights caused congestion at the airport, as airlines informed their passengers regarding the same.
“Flight UK972 from Pune to Delhi (PNQ-DEL) has been diverted to Jaipur (JAI) due to air traffic congestion at Delhi airport and is expected to arrive in Jaipur at 1205 hours.
Please stay tuned for further updates,” Vistara airlines posted on platform ‘X’.
“Due to bad weather in Delhi (DEL), all departures/arrivals and their consequential flights may be affected. Passengers are requested to keep a check on their flight status,” a post by SpiceJet said on platform “X.”