BENGALURU: Winter fog delayed departures of 39 flights from Kempegowda International Airport, going by Bangalore International Airport Ltd’s official release. A cascading effect of the delay saw departures suspended for 14 minutes, which ultimately delayed 102 departures until 11.30am.
The blanket of fog resulted in the suspension of operations between 6.32am and 6.48am.
According to an official BIAL release, there were zero delays in arrivals, 39 delays in departures and nil diversions. “With the winter season setting in, environmental impediments such as fog and consequent visibility issues have an impact on aircraft movement,” the release said.
Flightradar24 websites tracking the status of flight departures from BIAL, revealed that 102 flights were delayed from 5.55am. The situation appears to have stabilised around 11.30am.
The delays ranged from 30 minutes to 96 minutes. Domestic flights which suffered maximum delays were: Indigo (6E 233) between Chennai and Bengaluru, supposed to depart at 6.25 am, took off only at 8.01 am; Indigo flight to Madurai took off only at 7.28 am (scheduled at 5.45am) while another Indigo flight to Lucknow (6E 346) took off only at 11.44 am instead of its scheduled time of 10.20am. IndiGo appeared to be the most affected with 46 of its flights suffering delays.
Four international flights were also delayed: British Airways to London Heathrow departed at 7.38am instead of 7am, Indigo (6E 95) to Dubai took off at 8.17 am instead of 7.20am, Oman Air to Muscat (WY782) took off at 10.43am instead of 10.10am and Jet Airways to Singapore (9W24) took off at 11.21 am instead of the scheduled 11 am.
According to the airport weather office, fog conditions prevailed in the airport area at 5.13 am.
“The peak period for low visibility was between 6.03am and 7am when visibility was below 50m,” an official said. “It was thick fog today and hence, flight operations were affected. We predict it to be better tomorrow,” he added.
Asked about flight delays, an airlines spokesperson said they provided their passengers with refreshments until flights were in a position to take off.
“Arrivals were not affected as 50m visibility is enough for landing, but taking off requires at least around 150m, and hence departures suffered,” he said.