Fog problems in north hit flights across India

Mumbai: The annual problem of delays caused by fog in the northern parts of the country has become so acute that flyers are doomed to undergo the trauma even if they stay away from the region.
The reason for these pan-India delays of several hours is that flight schedules thrown out of gear by fog in the north have a cascading effect on all airline routes.
Just like it happened on Friday. At Mumbai airport, the average delay for arrivals and departures was around 45 minutes. For several flights arriving from Delhi, though, the delay stretched to over an hour with the trend continuing at the time of going to press.
Almost all the evening and night arrivals at Mumbai from Delhi (9W 334, IC 863, 6E 191, 9W 363, IC 810, SG 119, IT 314) were delayed by over an hour. Jet Airways 9W 354 which was scheduled to land at 9.24 pm is expected to land at 11.20 pm.
Consequently, Delhi departures were affected too, with flights leaving over an hour behind schedule.
The ones who were caught by surprise were the passengers flying on southern routes.
For instance: IC 174 from Chennai which was scheduled to land in Mumbai at 7.40 pm was rescheduled for an 11.20 pm touchdown.
"It seems there is no way one can escape delays these days. When my parents flew to Chennai last week, their flight was delayed by an hour and a half," said Monisha Chandran, who was waiting at the airport for their return.
20/11/10 Times of India

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Categories: Airports Nov 2010