Fog stops flights for two hours

Calcutta: Flights at Calcutta airport were stalled for around two hours on Thursday morning because of dense fog, causing inconvenience to hundreds of passengers. Airport officials said more than 15 flights were delayed by around two hours on an average as visibility dropped to 50 metres. Among the affected airlines were Kingfisher, Jet, SpiceJet, Air India and IndiGo.
“There were no diversions as visibility improved after 7.30am, much before flights from other cities start landing,” an airport official said.
Visibility started falling from 4am and touched 50 metres at 5.50am. The CAT II Instrument Landing System, installed in 2007, can help flights operate only if the visibility is 350 metres or more.
SpiceJet’s Calcutta-Delhi flight was the first to leave, taking off two hours behind schedule at 7.50am. Kingfisher’s Delhi flight took off at 8am, instead of 6.40am. Jet Airways’ Mumbai flight took off at 8.30am, two-and-a-half-hours behind schedule.
27/02/09 The Telegraph

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Categories: Airports Feb 2009