
NEW DELHI: As many as 19 flights were diverted at the Delhi airport early Saturday morning and more than 200 flights were delayed as low visibility due to dense fog impacted operations for the second straight day.
The country's largest airline IndiGo had temporarily put arrivals and departures on hold at the airport early in the morning.
An official said 19 flights were diverted at the airport between 12:15 am and 1:30 am due to reduced visibility.
Out of them, 13 were domestic, 4 international and 2 non-scheduled flights.
More than 200 flights were delayed and operations have returned to normal now, the official added.
"While landing and takeoffs continue at Delhi Airport, flights that are not CAT III compliant may get affected. Passengers are requested to contact the airline concerned for updated flight information. Any inconvenience caused is deeply regretted," the Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL) said in a post on X at 6.56 am.
CAT III facility allows aircraft to operate in low visibility conditions.
Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) in the national capital is operated by DIAL.
"#6ETravelAdvisory: Departures and arrivals at #DelhiAirport are currently on hold due to reduced visibility," IndiGo said in a post on X at 1:05 am on Saturday.
Air India said in an update on X at 1:16 am that poor visibility due to dense fog was impacting flight operations in Delhi and parts of northern India. A thick blanket of fog had enveloped Delhi on Friday as well, delaying more than 400 flights.
In an update on X at 10:58 am, IndiGo said dense fog continued to affect visibility in Delhi, Chandigarh, Amritsar, Srinagar, Guwahati and Patna, even during daytime.
"We assure you that our teams are working diligently to assist all impacted customers, ensuring your journey resumes as soon as the weather improves," it said in another post at 11 am.
In addition to flights being diverted, 81 trains were delayed due to dense fog over Delhi, which reduced visibility to zero in several areas.
The Met office said there was zero visibility since 11:30 pm on Friday at Palam and 12:30 am on Saturday at Safdarjung.
The fog was accompanied by mainly calm surface winds that prevented it from dissipating.
At 7 am, general visibility at the Indira Gandhi International Airport was zero in very dense fog.
The Runway Visual Range (RVR) at its runways was in the range of 100-250 metres, with CAT III conditions.
The Northern Railway said a total of 59 trains were running late by up to six hours and 22 by around eight hours.
In a related development, air quality in the national capital was in the 'very poor' category, with an Air Quality Index (AQI) reading of 380 at 9 am, according to Central Pollution Control Board data.
An AQI between zero and 50 is considered 'good', 51 and 100 'satisfactory', 101 and 200 'moderate', 201 and 300 'poor', 301 and 400 'very poor', and 401 and 500 'severe'.
The minimum temperature settled at 7.8 degrees Celsius, a notch above normal. The Met office has predicted dense to very dense fog during the day. The maximum temperature is likely to settle around 21 degrees Celsius.
Cold wave grips parts of Jharkhand
Jharkhand continued to reel under cold wave conditions on Saturday with the mercury falling below 6 degrees Celsius, the IMD said.
Dry weather prevailed over the state during the last 24 hours with the lowest minimum temperature of 5.3 degrees Celsius recorded in Khunti, it said.
"Below normal departures at few places were seen during last 24 hours, besides above normal and appreciably below normal each at isolated places over Jharkhand," the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.
No large change in minimum temperature during the next 24 hours is expected, and thereafter, the temperatures may rise by 2-4 degrees Celsius over the subsequent three days, it added.
The IMD predicted a shallow to moderate fog in the morning on Sunday and a partly cloudy sky later.
On January 6 and 7 fog will be visible in the morning with a partly cloudy sky later.
The weather conditions are likely to be the same on January 8 and 9, it said.
Dense fog in Kashmir valley hits flight operations at Srinagar airport
Flight operations at the Srinagar airport were hit on Saturday due to dense fog that engulfed parts of the Kashmir valley, officials said.
A thick layer of fog engulfed Kashmir, including Srinagar, in the morning, they said.
Poor visibility due to the fog affected operations at the airport and all morning flights were delayed, they added.
The officials said, "Due poor visibility at Srinagar airport, no flight operations have taken place so far."
All airlines have rescheduled their morning operations till the visibility improves.
This is the second consecutive day of fog affecting flight operations at Srinagar airport.
On Friday, morning flights were delayed while one was diverted due to low visibility. Operations resumed around noon after the visibility had improved.
(With inputs from PTI)