NEW DELHI: More than 30 flights were delayed and five were diverted due to low visibility at Indira Gandhi International Airport on Saturday because of a dense layer of smog.
Low-visibility procedures had to be implemented from midnight to 1.15am as visibility went as low as 125 metres. Hundreds of passengers were left stranded at the airport.
A Delhi airport spokesman said that the diversions took place because the planes did not have enough fuel and the pilots were not trained to land using low-visibility procedures. The flights that had to be diverted were Ethiopian Airlines Flight 2686 (from Addis Ababa), Air India Flight 18 (Ahmedabad), Vistara Flight 930 (Mumbai), IndiGo Flight 906 (Kolkata) and a private aircraft.
Met department officials say that a further dip in temperature might worsen the situation.
"Saturday witnessed the worst smog of this season at the airport. Though the visibility at the ground was above warning levels and runway visual range was recorded around 125, the pilots could barely see the runway. The conditions were really bad around 10:30am. No flights could be allowed to land which caused congestion in air space. Some respite can be expected if it rains," said an ATC official.
13/12/15 Anvit Srivastava/The Times Of India
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Low-visibility procedures had to be implemented from midnight to 1.15am as visibility went as low as 125 metres. Hundreds of passengers were left stranded at the airport.
A Delhi airport spokesman said that the diversions took place because the planes did not have enough fuel and the pilots were not trained to land using low-visibility procedures. The flights that had to be diverted were Ethiopian Airlines Flight 2686 (from Addis Ababa), Air India Flight 18 (Ahmedabad), Vistara Flight 930 (Mumbai), IndiGo Flight 906 (Kolkata) and a private aircraft.
Met department officials say that a further dip in temperature might worsen the situation.
"Saturday witnessed the worst smog of this season at the airport. Though the visibility at the ground was above warning levels and runway visual range was recorded around 125, the pilots could barely see the runway. The conditions were really bad around 10:30am. No flights could be allowed to land which caused congestion in air space. Some respite can be expected if it rains," said an ATC official.
13/12/15 Anvit Srivastava/The Times Of India
