Fog disrupts flight schedule: Despite efforts to reduce airport congestion in New Delhi over a busy holiday season, a thick fog that covered much of north India made flying more challenging. On Wednesday, the poor visibility that has plagued the nation’s north for the past few days once again hindered the movement. Delhi alone has seen up to 100 flights affected as the city struggles with the bitter cold and Wednesday’s dense fog.
Fog continues to disrupt the flight schedules
A Delhi Airport official said, “Due to bad weather (fog) for three days, over 100 flights are reported delayed from and to Delhi airport, some have also been diverted to the nearest airport.”
According to the Delhi airport official, the fact that some airlines have not yet dispatched their CAT-III certified pilots is another issue causing the flight delays. On Tuesday, Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) recommended travellers to check the status of their flights with the relevant airlines because only CAT-III compliant aircraft were allowed to fly out of Delhi airport.
DIAL said, “While landing and take-offs are continuing at Delhi airport, flights that are not CAT-III compliant may get affected. Passengers are requested to contact the airline concerned for the updated flight information.”
How does CAT-III system enable airplanes to land safely?
In bad visibility, CAT-III Instrument Landing System (ILS) enables planes to land safely. An aeroplane may land using CAT III-B ILS with a decision height of 15m and a runway visual range (RVR) of up to 50m.
In accordance with the Flight Information Display System (FIDS) at the Delhi airport, around 18 flights, the majority of which are flying in north India’s airport from Delhi, have statuses that are delayed till 12:00 Hrs. But incoming flights are arriving on time.
Tuesday’s severe fog caused flight services at West Bengal’s Bagdogra airport to be disrupted for about six hours. Numerous passengers were inconvenienced as a result of the disturbance. SpiceJet, IndiGo, and Vistara all expressed sorry for the delay and detour on Tuesday.
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