New Delhi: After being informed of the cancellation of his flight, Krishna, a 22-year-old mechanical engineer, was able to get a ticket on another flight to go for a job interview. Sanjeev Kumar, a retired government official, wasn't so lucky and was stranded in Delhi. They were among the hundreds whose travel plans were affected by dense fog on Friday morning that allowed limited operations at IGI airport for more than 12 hours.
"I had driven from Gurgaon to RK Puram last night in dense fog to be able to reach the airport in time today," said Krishna on Friday morning. "It was cancelled, but I have tickets for an evening flight for my interview on Saturday. If this flight gets rescheduled or cancelled, I will lose my chance at the new company."
A company executive flying to Amsterdam had a harrowing time. He had reached the airport at 11 pm on Thursday for a scheduled departure at 3.15 am on Friday. Because of the fog, the aircraft had to idle on the tarmac for three hours till 6.15 am, after which it had to be recalled for refuelling. When the tanks were full again at 7.20 am, the regulations allowing for cabin crew to work for only 16 hours at a stretch had been breached, and the flight had to be cancelled. Around 250 glum passengers had to trudge off to find other ways to leave for their destination.
Like him, many others spent anxious hours at the terminal areas awaiting rescheduled departure times. Ravi Raj was lucky that he lived nearby. "My son had a morning flight to Patna, but the aircraft got delayed by more than five hours," said Raj, who had come to the airport to see his son off. "We are returning home now. But there are many who have been waiting here since last night."
09/01/16 Anvit Srivastava/Times of India
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"I had driven from Gurgaon to RK Puram last night in dense fog to be able to reach the airport in time today," said Krishna on Friday morning. "It was cancelled, but I have tickets for an evening flight for my interview on Saturday. If this flight gets rescheduled or cancelled, I will lose my chance at the new company."
A company executive flying to Amsterdam had a harrowing time. He had reached the airport at 11 pm on Thursday for a scheduled departure at 3.15 am on Friday. Because of the fog, the aircraft had to idle on the tarmac for three hours till 6.15 am, after which it had to be recalled for refuelling. When the tanks were full again at 7.20 am, the regulations allowing for cabin crew to work for only 16 hours at a stretch had been breached, and the flight had to be cancelled. Around 250 glum passengers had to trudge off to find other ways to leave for their destination.
Like him, many others spent anxious hours at the terminal areas awaiting rescheduled departure times. Ravi Raj was lucky that he lived nearby. "My son had a morning flight to Patna, but the aircraft got delayed by more than five hours," said Raj, who had come to the airport to see his son off. "We are returning home now. But there are many who have been waiting here since last night."
09/01/16 Anvit Srivastava/Times of India
