More to flight delays than fog

New Delhi: Fog on December 24 and 25 saw as many as 310 delays in departing flights from the IGI airport. However, contrary to popular belief, not all of them were due to air traffic congestion or the fog. As many as 39 flights were delayed on these two days due to technical snags and operational issues, compared to 15 fog-related delays.
According to Delhi International Airport (P) Ltd (DIAL) sources, several of these delays were due to reasons like a prolonged flight inspection, cleaning of the aircraft, late arrival of the food trays etc. "In the 310 delays on these two days, the majority were due to unknown reasons. However, from reasons that have been analysed, late arrival of aircraft from origin station saw the maximum delays, followed by technical delays and airline operational issues and then by fog-related causes. A major reason for operational delays also could be the non-availability of stand-by crew in case the flight duty hours of one set of crew expired,'' said sources. On Christmas eve, seven flights were delayed by 15-30 minutes due to technical reasons while eight flights were delayed by half an hour to 45 minutes due to the same causes. Three flights were delayed by up to an hour due to operational issues.
On Christmas, of the 19 flights delayed due to technical reasons, 11 were delayed by 15-30 minutes, five by 30 minutes to 45 minutes and one each by an hour and an hour and 15 minutes.
Airlines accepted that flights were delayed due to several reasons, fog being just one of them.
28/12/08 Times of India

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Categories: Airports Dec 2008