Airlines Warn of Flight Delays as Dense Fog Shrouds North India; Ops Stable

Airlines issued travel advisories on 14^th January as dense fog covered most of northern India, including Delhi-NCR, leading to flight delays. In an advisory issued on Wednesday morning, IndiGo warned passengers about unexpected drops in visibility across several cities. According to the airlines, Early-morning fog could affect visibility across Amritsar, Chandigarh, Jammu and Udaipur, impacting flight operations.

Flights Impacted in Chennai, Agartala and Hindon

IndiGo also said that low visibility obstructed flights in Chennai, Hindon and Agartala. Departures and arrivals to and from these cities might experience delays due to the weather conditions, and the situation was closely monitored.

Operations from UP’s Hindon airport were also affected. Fluctuating visibility at Hindon Airport led to changes in flight schedules and operations may be slower than usual as conditions evolve. According to the Airlines, operations would stabilize once weather conditions improve.

Operations of the Airlines Largely Remain Stable

The Delhi airport is closely tracking the fog situation and issuing hourly updates. At 8 am, the airport said all flight operations were normal. Numerous airlines, such as Akasa Air, rescheduled a large number of flights on Tuesday due to low visibility in northern India.

According to the flight tracking platform FlightRadar24, the departure delay index, which estimates disruption in departures, stood at 1 for Delhi’s IGI Airport as of 8:40 am, indicating negligible disruption. In the meantime, the arrival delay index was at 0.7, signifying even fewer disruptions to landing operations.

Fog Situation and Winter Disruptions

Fog often leads to flight disruptions in northern India throughout the winter. Air India recently introduced measures to manage fog-related delays.

The airline said that poor visibility due to fog is predicted in Northern India, including Delhi, with cascading impacts on our flight operations across the network. It was further added that its 'FogCare' initiative allows affected passengers to change flights without an extra payment or choose a full refund without penalty.

Which Airlines Face More Difficulty?

Airlines operating aircraft that are not CAT-III compliant will face more difficulty in near-zero visibility conditions. CAT-II and CAT-III-compliant aircraft have cutting-edge landing and navigation systems that allow operations in low-visibility conditions. CAT-II aircraft can land with partial visibility, while CAT-III aircraft can function even when visibility is extremely poor, owing to innovative autoland systems.

Source: Business Standard