Return of fog delays

Several flights were delayed in Calcutta because of fog at the destination airports on Friday. Air India’s flights to Delhi and Guwahati were delayed by 30 minutes while a JetLite flight to Patna and Kingfisher flights to Bhubaneswar and Guwahati were held up for around an hour.
Airlines are bracing for more such delays with the onset of winter. The Category II Instrument Landing System, installed at the city airport in 2007, allows flights to operate when visibility is 350 metres or more. But visibility often dips to below 50m in Calcutta.
An official of Air India, which has the maximum number of CAT III-qualified pilots, said: “We will have stand-by aircraft at Calcutta, including the Airbus 319.” He added that a dedicated call centre service would provide information on fog to passengers.
Kingfisher said its CAT II-trained pilots would be rotated and extra aircraft pressed into service to avoid chain delays.
Jet Airways officials said information about fog-related delays would be sent to fliers via text messages and requested passengers to provide personal numbers while booking tickets.
12/12/09 The Telegraph

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Categories: Airports Dec 2009