More than 20 trains were cancelled and around 60 Delhi-bound trains, including the Rajdhani Express were running late yesterday owing to dense foggy conditions in the national capital.
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Airport officials later said the visibility had improved in the second half of the day, thereby “normalising” operations.
A thick blanket of fog enveloped many parts of the city affecting the visibility as it dropped to zero at 8.30 am and increased to 1,000 meters at 5.30 pm. Apart from the national carrier, SpiceJet, Indigo, Air Asia, Go Air and Jet Airways also operate Pune-Delhi services.
Several trains were cancelled and flights delayed or re-scheduled due to heavy fog on Friday morning with the visibility at 8.30 am slumping below 50 metres and the minimum temperature recorded at 12.06 degrees Celsius in New Delhi, five notches above the season’s average. “Pls check your flight status”, Jet Airways tweeted today. As many as 44 flights were delaed by more than 15 minutes during this period, the release added. The Met department has predicted a significant reduction in the fog by Saturday.
“It was a nightmarish experience for us”, said Romshri Ashesh, a passenger who had to take a flight from Delhi to Raipur.
The call was made at the control room of private airport operator Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) at around 7pm. “Departures have been the worst affected as a result of take-offs want a minimal visibility of one hundred twenty five m”, stated Dr RK Jenamani, director in-cost, IGI Met. For about six hours, there have been minimal operations on the airport.
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CAT-III B allows an aircraft to land in visibility as low as 50 metres.
