Haze cripples flight schedules

New Delhi: More than 50 flights were delayed and at least 8 international flights had to be diverted on Sunday due to dense fog over the Indira Gandhi International Airport for nearly 12 hours.
IGI Met Department said the lowest visibility recorded this morning was 75 metres. There was Category III fog from 1 am to 9 am.
The weatherman also predicted dense fog after midnight, as general visibility started dipping below 800 metres from 8 pm.
Airport authorities had to enforce Low Visibility Procedure (LVP) on the two runways, 28 and 29 from 9 pm on Saturday evening to around 11 am. Runway visibility dropped to 75 metres forcing some airlines to divert flights to Jaipur and Mumbai.
Two Kingfisher flights were cancelled due to fog while Air India's Delhi-Kabul flight was cancelled due to bad weather conditions at Kabul airport.
“At least 10 outbound flights from Delhi were delayed by up to two hours, and three inbound flights were also delayed,” a Kingfisher Airlines spokesperson said.
An airport official said, “MDLR flight 9H171 from Chandigarh was delayed by four hours, and a Jetlite S26138 from Lucknow was also delayed.”
Moderate to very dense fog has been enveloping the IGIA for over 28 hours now. “There was fog since 6.30 am on Saturday to about 10.30 am today. Runway 29 experienced Category III fog at least an hour earlier than Runway 28, as it is surrounded by open fields,” R K Jenamani, Director, IGI Met department, said.
23/12/08 ANI/Thaindian.com, Thailand

To Read the News in full at Source, Click the Headline

Categories: Airports Dec 2008