New Delhi: Flight operations at the IGI
airport remained suspended this morning due to dense fog which
disrupted the schedules of over 50 domestic and international
flights.
No flights have taken-off or landed after 8 am as the
runway visibility dropped to 50 metres on both the runways due
to dense fog that enveloped the airport early this morning,
airport sources said.
About 12 incoming and outgoing morning flights were
cancelled.
According to Met Department, the fog started to
descend on the airport in the wee hours and it began to
thicken around 5 am, reducing the general visibility to less
than 50 metres while runway visibility was reduced to around
250 metres.
Within an hour, the runway visibility dropped to 75
metres and by 7.30 am it further deteriorated to 50 metres,
affecting the movement of several morning flights.
No flights could land even using the CAT-III B
instrument landing system, as the minimum permissible limit to
land under such conditions is 50 metres, while the limit for
low visibility take-off is 150 metres.
"Our first flight takes off at around 6 am but no
flights have departed," said an Air India official, adding no
flight has arrived also due to poor visibility.
Delhi`s airspace would also remained close for an hour
between 11.15 am and 12.15 pm for fly-past of Indian Air Force
aircraft during the Republic Day parade.
After remaining disrupted for almost a week, Delhi
airport yesterday witnessed a fog-free day helping the
airlines to maintain its schedule.
The Met department said that the fog could dissipate
only after 11.30 am and by 1.30 it would turn into shallow
fog.
Train services hit
A railway spokesperson said over 50 trains were running behind schedule due to dense fog in Moradabad region of Uttar Pradesh.
"So far we have rescheduled 14 trains," the official added.
Agencies
