Fog engulfs BIA, delays 49 flights

Bangalore: Lack of visibility on the runway due to fog saw 25 departures and 24 arrivals get delayed at the airport. As many as 60 flights were affected even on Thursday morning around the same time. However, there were no flight diversions reported.
While all the arrivals were restricted to domestics flights, bad weather delayed the departures of the Lufthansa and Air France flights to France and the Dragon Air flight to Hong Kong. Of the domestic flights, four Air India flights to Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai and Kolkata were also stalled.
BIA employee Mahesh told Deccan Herald that the delay in departures in the morning created backlog, affecting the schedules of flights due for departure in the evening and night. The situation, however, eased later in the night and flights began departing on time.
Going by the meteorological department’s forecast of weather in the City, with the winter at its peak, air travelers cannot expect flights to adhere to schedules for a few more days to come. According to BIA sources, fog generally hits the airport from the last week of November and extends into a couple of months into the next year.
And the situation will prevail despite the fog contingency plan that has been put in place.
24/12/10 Deccan Herald

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

Categories: Airports Dec 2010