Are airlines equipped to deal with the fog situation?

With North India being enveloped by a thick fog cover for the first time this year leading to diversions and cancellations of flights, the obvious question that arises is how can this be stopped or at least reduced during the peak winter months.

During fog, the airports experience what are called CAT III B conditions when visibility at an airport range from 50 meters to 174 meters. The conditions are called CAT III A when visibility is between 175 meters and 299 meters. India has around 3,600 pilots including 2,000 Pilots in Command and another 1,600 co-pilots who are trained to operate a flight under CAT III B conditions.

Sources in the Directorate General of Civil Aviation told BusinessLine that the number of CAT III B pilots domestically are “sufficient” for managing operations in India. They, however, declined to give the break-up of how many CAT III trained pilots each airline has in India.

A pilot with a private airline said while the number of pilots certified for low visibility conditions might be sufficient but “what needs to be seen is whether they are distributed proportionately between all the airlines. This needs to be ensured.”

Also because of rapid expansion, pilots do not have enough time to qualify for CAT III, said another pilot with a private airline.

CAT III A and CAT III B are the most severe weather conditions to fly in and are currently being faced at many airports especially in north India.

For an aircraft to take off visibility must be a minimum of 125 meters or more while for landing the visibility must be 50 meters or more.

A cross-section of pilots that BusinessLine spoke to said that merely looking at the number of CAT III B trained pilots as a way out of the situation is over simplifying the problem.
“For operations under CAT III B conditions the pilot, the co-pilot and the aircraft have to be certified. This is important because even if one of the three in the equation is not there operations cannot take place,” a pilot scheduled to fly from Singapore to Delhi said, adding, “many times it is an operational issue that while the Capitan might be CAT III B compliant, the co-pilot might not and with weather deteriorating fast this becomes a problem.”
Pointing out that there is no simple answer to the question as to why flights are delayed, another pilot with a private airline said it is not only about aircraft landing, it is also about aircraft taking off which can lead to flights coming in being diverted and those taking off getting delayed or cancelled.
31/12/19 Ashwini Phadnis/Business Line

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Fifty flights delayed, two cancelled at SVPI airport

Ahmedabad: People headed to meet friends and loved ones or just to party for New Year’s Eve were in for a massive disappointment on Monday, as some 50 flight departures were delayed at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International (SVPI) airport in the city. After parts of northern India came under a dense fog, poor visibility at various airports caused flights to be either cancelled, delayed or diverted.
Two flights from Ahmedabad, to Hyderabad and Bengaluru, were cancelled, leaving passengers in a tizzy. Alternative flights could not be arranged due to time constraints and operational issues triggered by the weather.

SVPI airport handled a total of seven flight diversions on Monday, besides its regular complement of 250-odd flights. “Five Jaipur-bound flights, from Mumbai, Kolkata, Hyderabad and Bengaluru, were diverted to the city. Two Delhi-bound flights, from Bengaluru and Mumbai, were also diverted here,” said a source in the airport.

All diversions handled at SVPI airport were between 8am and 11am and flights began departing at 10am, with the last diverted flight departing at 2.30pm.

31/12/19 Times of India 

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Temperature slides to 2.3C, dense fog hits flight timings

Varanasi: Several flights were cancelled at Lal Bahadur Shastri International (LBS) Airport, as visibility dropped after heavy fog took over Varanasi’s skyline on Monday.

The city woke up to thick fog and sun remained out of sight throughout the day. The cold wave maintained its grip over the city. The minimum temperature was recorded as 2.3 degrees, while the maximum temperature was recorded as 9 degrees Celsius.

Accordign to LBS Airport spokesperson Ranjeet Verma, four flights — Indigo 713/711 (Kolkata-Varanasi-Mumbai), Indigo 712/716 (Mumbai-Varanasi-Kolkata), Indigo 499 (Varanasi-Bangalore), and Indigo 6635 (Varanasi-Delhi) — were cancelled. On December 28, two Indigo flights, which connected Varanasi to Mumbai and Kolkata were cancelled, while one IndiGo flight and another of Vistara Airlines were cancelled on December 26. Meanwhile, the GoAir flight between Varanasi and Mew Delhi would remain cancelled till January 5 due to operational reasons. In view of inclement weather, the district administration has ordered the closure of all schools and intermediate colleges till January 4. The Varanasi Municipal Corporation has set up night shelters at 12 locations in the city for the homeless.
31/12/19 Times of India

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50 flights from city delayed by 45 mins

Five flights to and from the city airport were cancelled; these include flights to Kochi, Hyderabad, Bangalore Following dense fog and unfavourable weather conditions, seven Jaipur-Delhi bound flights diverted to city
Heavy fog and bad weather in North India has disturbed air-traffic all over the country. Seven Jaipur and Delhi bound flights had to be diverted to Ahmedabad airport owing to the weather condition.
Not only that more than 50 flights from the city airport also got delayed by more than 45 minutes. Following weather and other operational reasons, at least five flights from and to city airport got cancelled, sources told Mirror.
"Seven flights had been diverted to Ahmedabad airport on Monday morning. Out of these, five were diverted from Jaipur airport while two were diverted from Delhi airport.
Diverted flights started coming to Ahmedabad airport from 8.20 am and continued to arrive till 11 am. They had begun returning to the respective destination airports from 10 am and continued to depart the airport till 2.30 pm. Following these diverted flights, city airport flights were also affected."
Flights which got cancelled include Indigo Ahmedabad-Kochi, Ahmedabad-Hyderabad and Ahmedabad-Bangalore flights. Mumbai-Ahmedabad and Delhi-Ahmedabad flights of Indigo airlines also got cancelled.
Asked about delayed and cancelled flights, Indigo spokesperson told Mirror: "Owing to the dense fog in North India our flights have been impacted across the country. We will continue to review the situation and provide real time updates on our social media platforms. We request passengers to check the flight status before leaving home and reach out to our customer care for queries."
SpiceJet spokesperson told Mirror: "One flight was diverted to Ahmedabad due to bad weather in Jaipur."
31/12/19 Ahmedabad Mirror

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Surat airport traffic likely to cross 1.5 million in 2019-20

Surat: Surat airport has made impressive growth in passenger traffic to domestic and international destinations this year.
For the first time, passenger traffic, which stood at 10 lakhs till November 2019, is likely to cross 15 lakh figure in 2019-20.
According to figures published by Airports Authority of India (AAI), Surat airport has achieved exponential growth in terms of passenger traffic. In November, passenger traffic was 1.44 lakh and stood at 10 lakh between April-November 2019 thanks to increase in number of flights in the last 18 months. At present, Surat airport is served by about 20 flights to various domestic destinations, including international, by SpiceJet, Air India, Air India Express, IndiGo and Ventura Airconnect.
Sources said Air India has announced commencement of a direct flight between Surat and Bhubaneshwar from January 20. The flights will be available every Sunday and Friday from Surat and on every Monday and Thursday from Bhubaneshwar.
The growth story of Surat airport started after a few industrialists from the textile industry offered bank guarantee of Rs3 crore to Air India for operating an Airbus between Surat and New Delhi. CR Paatil, BJP MP, lobbied with the loss-making national carrier, which was under immense political pressure to upgrade operations from the Diamond City.
31/12/19 Times of India

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Dense fog in North delays flights at Surat airport

Surat: Passengers at Surat airport had to face inordinate delays as dense fog engulfed Northern parts of the country on Monday.
Sources said that the flights arriving from Delhi, Jaipur, Bengaluru and Kolkata were delayed by one to six hours because of operational problems faced due to the dense fog at the airports in the northern parts of the country.
The Air India flight from Delhi arrived at 8am instead of its scheduled arrival time of 7.10 am. Spice Jet flight from Delhi arrived at 11.45 am instead of its schedule of 8.15; Kolkata flight of Spice Jet to Surat arrived at 3.15 pm against its scheduled time of 2.45 pm.
The Indigo Delhi-Surat flight arrived at 12.51 pm from its schedule time of 8.25 am, while its Bengaluru flight arrived at 6 pm from its schedule time of 1.20 pm on Monday. The Jaipur-Surat flight arrived at 3.55 pm from its schedule time of 3.15 pm and that the Delhi flight to Surat arrived at 6 pm from its schedule time of 5.10 pm.
31/12/19 Times of India

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Night continues to be cold in Chandigarh, 11 flights affected

Chandigarh: The minimum temperature on Monday for the third consecutive night continued to remain below normal even as a dense fog engulfed Chandigarh and its outskirts. Operations of at least 11 flights were affected from the Chandigarh International Airport due to adverse weather conditions in Delhi and Bangalore.

A 100-meter visibility was recorded on Monday morning which subsequently improved to 800 and 2,000 meters during the day, an official of the MeT department said. The minimum temperature recorded during the nights of Sunday and Monday was 3.5 degree Celsuis, 2 degree Celsuis below normal.

A spokesperson of the Chandigarh International Airport said, the Air India’s Mumbai Chandigarh flight was delayed by 02:30 hours due to low visibility in Chandigarh.

A total of 10 flights were affected due to unfavourable weather conditions at other stations. While four flights, including Delhi-Chandigarh GoAir, Air India Dharmshala-Chandigarh Indigo Delhi-Chandigarh and Air Asia’s Delhi Chandigarh were cancelled, and six flights, including Go Air Ahmedabad-Chandigarh, Indigo Bangalore-Chandigarh, AirAsia Bangalore-Chandigarh flight, AirAsia Delhi Chandigarh, Vistara Delhi-Chandigarh and Indigo Bangalore-Chandigarh were delayed.
31/12/19 Indian Express

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Fog in Delhi delays more than 28 flights at city airport

Chennai: Plans of hundreds of passengers on Monday went awry after more than 28 flights between Delhi and Chennai were delayed due to air congestion caused by dense fog in the national capital. Flights to other destinations were also delayed subsequently.
In Chennai, 14 arrivals from Delhi and 14 departures to Delhi were delayed. A flight to Bengaluru from Chennai had to be cancelled while five flights — from Bengaluru, Kolkata, Mumbai, Hyderabad were cancelled. Many of the early morning flights from Delhi reached Chennai much later in the morning.

The largescale disruption was due to poor visibility at Delhi, Gwalior, Varanasi, Jaipur airports. Domestic carriers use a single aircraft to fly to multiple destinations and hence flights to Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Kolkata, Patna, Bengaluru were delayed subsequently. Delays in flights from Delhi began on Sunday night.


IndiGo, SpiceJet, Vistara and Air India issued advisory to passengers warning them to check schedules on social media platforms of the airlines before reaching the airport. IndiGo in a statement said, “Owing to the dense fog in North India, our flights have been impacted across all of India. We request passengers to check the flight status before leaving home.” Similar statements were tweeted by other airlines.
31/12/19 Times of India

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Year-end tourists bear brunt of Delhi fog

Mumbai: Fliers heading out of the city for their year-end break have had to face delays with the heavy fog in Delhi holding up incoming flights, leading to a cascading effect.

Flights in Delhi were operating at the airport under CAT III B conditions, which meant the runway visual range was between 50 m and 175 m. Officials at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport said heavy fog across north India led to flight disruptions with multiple flights to and from Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Chennai being delayed or even cancelled.

In a statement, IndiGo said, “Owing to dense fog in North India, our flights have been impacted across India. We will continue to review the situation and provide real-time updates on our social media platforms.” The airline requested passengers to check flight status before leaving home and reach out to its customer care.
Vistara said on Twitter its Delhi-Mumbai flight UK933 and Mumbai-Delhi flight UK996 were cancelled due to poor visibility in the Capital. Vistara along with GoAir, SpiceJet and AirAsia India said due to fog and poor visibility in Delhi, their operations might be impacted. They advised passengers to check their flight status before leaving for the airport.
31/12/19 Aditya Anand/The Hindu

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Dense fog over north India disrupts flights at Goa airport

Panaji: Nearly 25 arrivals and departures were affected at the Goa International Airport, Dabolim, as a thick blanket of fog engulfted parts of North India, especially New Delhi, on Monday morning. Nearly a thousand passengers found their year-end travel plans disrupted as some flights were delayed by more than five hours.
Bad weather and poor visibility due to fog in Delhi, Varanasi, Kishangarh, Gwalior and Chandigarh disrupted flight schedules. In order to reduce the inconvenience, private airlines issued advisories to passengers, asking them to re-check their flight status before reporting at the airport.
“Waiting at Goa Airport for Indigo flight 724 to Delhi. Flight delayed by 90 minutes. No apologies, no snacks,” tweeted a passenger. The AirAsia flight I5779 from Delhi to Goa usually lands at Goa at 7.50am but due to the bad weather in Delhi, the flight took off late and landed in the afternoon, at 12.30pm. Passengers scheduled to fly back to Delhi on flight I5778 who had cleared the check-in for their 8.20am flight, had to wait till 1.05pm to board the aircraft.

Similarly, Air India flight AI156 from Delhi to Goa, which was scheduled to arrive at 4.35pm landed only at 7.10pm. A Mumbai to Goa IndiGo flight 6E711 which was to land at 3.10 pm arrived at 6.10pm, while AirAsia’s Delhi-Goa flight I5775, which lands at 2.50pm took off several hours later from Mumbai and arrived at Goa at 7pm.
31/12/19 Times of India

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Fog grounds lone flight between Delhi, Ludhiana

Ludhiana: Rail travelers continued to suffer with nine trains being cancelled due to adverse weather conditions. The fate of air travelers was no better as the lone Air India flight between Delhi and Ludhiana was also cancelled due to poor visibility.
The lone Air India flight connecting the business hub to the national capital, which has been erratic for quite some time due to foggy weather and poor visibility, was cancelled for the day. Air India officials said the Delhi-Ludhiana flight 9837 was to carry 50 passengers while 40 passengers were booked on the return flight 9838 from Ludhiana to Delhi.
According to railway officials, 13006 Howrah-Amritsar Mail, 13151 Kolkata-Jammu Tawi Sealdah Express, 14605 Haridwar-Jammu Tawi Express, 14617/18 Banmankhi-Amritsar-Banmankhi Jansewa Express, 14631/32 Dehradun-Amritsar-Dehradun Express, 14673 Jaynagar-Amritsar Shaheeed Express and 22473 Gorakhpur-Amritsar Jansadharan Express trains were cancelled for the day.
The 12054 Amritsar-Haridwar Janshatabdi Express was short-terminated at Saharanpur and the corresponding train 12053 Haridwar-Amritsar, originated from Saharanpur.
30/12/19 Tribune

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West Bengal cleric threatens to block Kolkata airport; demands revocation of CAA

Kolkata: A prominent Muslim cleric in West Bengal has threatened to block Kolkata airport if the Citizenship (Amendment) Act is not revoked. He has urged Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to either move Supreme Court challenging the contentious citizenship law or bring a resolution against the Act in state Assembly.

While speaking to Times Now, Muslim cleric Abbas Siddiqui from Furfura Sharif, a holy place of Muslims in West Bengal, claimed that the citizenship law is unfair to the Muslim population of the country. He asked Mamata Banerjee to take immediate steps to stall the Act or else "she risks losing the support of Muslims in West Bengal."
He went on to add that all the protests that the West Bengal CM is leading in the state might be satisfactory for other people, but they are not enough to satisfy the Muslim population.
31/12/19 TimesNopwNews.com

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DGCA issues licences to 2,264 air traffic controllers

New Delhi: Pilots flying commercial aircraft in India will no longer carry a paper booklet, torn in many cases of those doing so for decades, as their licence. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Monday showcased smart licences it is switching over to, similar to driving licences issued in any states.

The first ever DGCA-issued licences to air traffic controllers (ATCO) of Airports Authority of India (AAI) were on Monday handed over by civil aviation minister HS Puri .
An audit by UN’s International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) in November, 2017, recommended that aviation regulator DGCA should have oversight over the functions of ATCOs of AAI. The audit likened AAI issuing licences to controllers, who are its own employees, to an airline issuing licences to its pilots. Since aviation regulators issue licences to pilots and then the latter join airlines, ICAO recommended a similar provision for ATCOs.
After this, the aviation ministry had asked DGCA to issue licences and rating to air traffic controllers of AAI. “To enable licensing of ATCOs, the DGCA approved AAI’s Air Traffic Services Training Organisations at Prayagraj, Hyderabad and Gondia to conduct approved training courses for controllers. A total of around 2,400 ATCOs submitted their applications for issuance of licences to DGCA and as on date 2,264 licences have been issued.
30/12/19 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India

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Hubballi continues to be K'taka's third busiest airport

Hubballi: According to the Airport Authority of India website, the Bengaluru airport also saw 32.42 lakh passengers either boarding or alighting international flights between April and November. There
was an increase of 3.61 lakh international flight passengers compared to last year. In the month of
November alone, the Bengaluru airport has handled 4.12 lakh international passengers.
The website also said that the 37 international airports in India saw 4.54 crore international
passengers, with Delhi Internation airport alone handling 1.20 crore of them.
Mangaluru Airport, the only other international airport in State, saw a fall in a number of
international passengers using the airport, as its footfall fell to 4.01 lakh passengers between April
and November, compared to last year when it was 5.13 lakh. In November 2018, 61,840
international passengers had been to Mangaluru airport whereas in 2019 November it was just 45,
742.
Mangaluru airport also saw a dip in domestic passengers during the same period compared to last
year. While 8.69 lakh domestic passengers either landed or took o from here in 2019, last year it
was 10.87 lakh.
Regional Connectivity Scheme (Udan scheme) has helped tire-II cities of Karnataka, with Hubballi
domestic airport continuing to hold on to its third-busiest airport in Karnataka position with 3.26
lakh passenger visiting the airport during the said period. This, however, is an increase of 20% of
passengers. In 2018-19 as many as 2.71 lakh passengers were handled by Hubballi airport. While
4,307 flights took o or landed at Hubballi airport in 2018 (April-November), in 2019 as many as
4,556 flights were handled here.
29/12/129 Pavan Kumar/Deccan Herald

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Halwara airport may start from June

Ludhiana: If everything goes as per plan, flights from Halwara airport may start from June next year, said a senior Airport Authority of India (AAI) official in the state.
Meanwhile, the land acquisition authority is expected to complete the process for the project by January-end.

A senior AAI officer said as per the recent directions of the AAI chairman, they would construct a boundary wall around the acquired area by March. He said efforts were being made by the ministry of civil aviation, Punjab, to start flights from Halwara between June and September next year and the Greater Ludhiana Area Development Authority (GLADA) was working on the land acquisition process.

“We are trying to get portable cabins, temporary structures for departure, check-in and arrival halls for passengers. Those will be installed at Halwara after the boundary wall comes up. The deputy commissioner has also suggested to start operations as soon as possible. A high-level meeting was held at AAI headquarters in Delhi recently. GLADA is also in final stages of land acquisition. The authority is expected to finish it by January-end. The land is being acquired in Aittiana village, Raikot subdivision of Ludhiana district,” the AAI official added.

“A procedure has to be followed for land acquisition and it includes studying its impact on society and environment, among others. After issuing a notification, separate notices will be served on every landowner about acquisition and their objections would be sought. Then GLADA will organise a public hearing on January 10 and 11. After discussing with people, the land price will be calculated,” Ludhiana DC Pardeep Aggarwal told The Times of India.
30/12/19 Shariq Majeed/Times of India

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Colombo-bound flight halted on runway due to technical snag

Chennai: A Sri Lankan airlines flight bound for Colombo, with 177 passengers and six crew members, was stopped at the runway, moments before take off, following a technical snag at the Anna International airport here this evening.
 Airport sources said the flight entered the runway and was all set for take off at 1630 hrs, when the pilot noticed a technical snag. The alert pilot immediately halted the flight at the runway itself.
 Thanks to the timely detection of the snag, the 183 passengers had a narrow escape. The sources the flight would leave for Colombo after the snag was rectified.
 29/12/19 UNI

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We are issuing too many airport entry permits: Civil Aviation Minister

 
New Delhi: Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said on Monday that the central government was issuing too many airport entry permits (AEPs) and it was time to restrict certain parts such as the baggage area to a specific set of AEP-holders.
"The fact is that we are issuing too many airport passes...I can understand that the airport access is wanted by tourist operators and so and so," said Puri, while launching the biometric-based AEP system on Monday.

"I also understand that if you suddenly curtail this you have a problem on your hands because those people say that tourism industry is already moribund and you are putting more restrictions," he added.

Currently, around 2 lakh employees of various stakeholders -- airlines, ground handling agencies, food chain operators, etc -- have AEP passes who move in & out of the airport on a daily basis.

Covering 43 airports of AAI and five joint venture airports at present, the biometric-enabled Centralised Access Control System (CACS) project will digitise the employee movement process.

Till date, the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) - which works under the Civil Aviation Ministry - has been issuing laminated paper based AEP at the 48 airports.

The minister said, "I am not saying that they (tourist operators, etc) should be stopped. But even amongst them, how many people do you want at the airport to be?"
30/12/19 PTI/Outlook

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Delhi fog disrupts airport ops: 530 flights delayed, 20 diverted, 4 cancelled

New Delhi: Heavy fog disrupted flight operations at the Delhi airport on Monday with 20 flights diverted, four cancelled, and around 530 delayed till 12.52 pm, an official said.

Flights are operating at the airport under CAT III B conditions, which means the runway visual range (RVR) is between 50 metres and 175 metres.

Giving an update on flight operations at 12.52 pm, the official said 16 flights have been diverted and four cancelled as of now.

"Around 530 flights - which includes 320 departures as well as 210 arrivals approximately - have been delayed on Monday till 12.52 pm," the official added.

In a statement, IndiGo airline said,"Owing to dense fog in north India our flights have been impacted across India. We will continue to review the situation and provide real time updates on our social platforms."

The airline also requested passengers to check flight status before leaving home and reach out to its customer care.

Vistara airline said on Twitter that its Delhi-Mumbai flight UK933 as well as Mumbai-Delhi flight UK996 stands cancelled due to poor visibility in Delhi.
30/12/19 PTI/India Today

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Fog envelops Jammu, all 20 flights cancelled

Jammu: Intense cold wave and dense fog crippled the normal life across the Jammu region on Monday, forcing the authorities to cancel all flights operating from the Jammu airport.

According to officials, the dense fog badly disrupted the air traffic at the Jammu airport as all flights from Jammu were cancelled due to poor visibility.

At least 20 Jammu-bound flights were cancelled at the airport due to poor visibility, leaving the passengers in a lurch.
Heavy rush was witnessed at the Jammu airport throughout the day as the airlines were not being given clearance from the Air Traffic Control (ATC) due to dense fog since morning.

“All the flights were cancelled due to poor visibility. Airlines have initiated refund for the passengers,” said Pravat Ranjan Beuria, Airport Director, Jammu.

The Jammu airport has 20 flights, which operate for Srinagar, Delhi, Mumbai, Leh, Gwalior and Lucknow.

Similarly, train services also remained affected at the Jammu railway station where at least 12 trains were running behind the schedule by several hours, causing inconvenience to passengers.
30/12/19 Tribune

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Bengaluru-Mysuru-Kalaburagi Flight: Alliance Air launches direct service

In a major development in the aviation sector, state-run Air India's subsidiary Alliance Air launched a direct service from Kalaburagi in north Karnataka to Bengaluru and Mysuru in the state's southern region.

"The daily service between Kalaburagi and Mysuru via Bengaluru will be operated under the regional connectivity scheme (RCS) of the central government called Udan (Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik)," said the official in a statement here.

Kalaburagi is about 580 km north of the southern state capital Bengaluru.
Built by the state-run Airport Authority of India (AAI) in partnership with the state government, the airport was opened for operations on November 22, over a decade after its foundation was laid on June 14, 2008.

"The regional airport has enabled direct air connectivity between the state capital (Bengaluru) and the city of palaces (Mysuru) with Kalaburagi, an important commercial and pilgrim centre in the state's norther region.

Spread over 567 acres of farmlands near Srinivas Sardagi, the airport has 3.25 km-long runway, making it the second longest in the state after the international airport at Devanahalli in north Bengaluru.
29/12/19 Prashant Singh/ZeeBiz

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