New Delhi   

Capital gets a taste of dense fog

Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI: It was the beginning of "real" winter for Delhiites with the Capital getting its first taste of dense fog on Tuesday. Wreaking havoc with air operations, the fog delayed nearly 50 flights and led to cancellation of three and diversion of six to other cities during the course of the day.

"Low visibility procedures were pressed into place for around four hours in the morning. But flight activity was not suspended as the runway visual range dropped only to 150 metres. Things became normal after around 10:30 a.m., when the runway visual range became 950 metres,'' said an airport official.

The three flights that were cancelled on Tuesday were a Spice Jet flight to Varanasi, an Air Deccan flight to Amritsar and another Air Deccan flight to Jammu and Chandigarh.

While 34 flights operated during the period the low visibility procedures were in place, most of these flights were either international airlines or government-owned carriers. With most of the private airlines still to fully train their pilots for CAT III B conditions, the foggy day in Delhi will be far from smooth sailing for passengers.

"There were many passengers complaining about low-cost airlines through the day. There were cases where they claimed that they were not given back their money when the flights were cancelled even though they had their boarding pass in their hands,'' airport sources claimed.

However, judging by the weather forecast, the fog on Tuesday was only a sneak preview and there are plenty of more "white'' days to come. According to the weatherman, there is likely to be fog again on Wednesday morning.

Gearing up to cope with the extra rush due to flight delays, the Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) has set up a free park and ride facility near the domestic airport to make it more convenient for travellers to get to the terminals.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Need to control HIV epidemic among Injecting Drug Users
Capturing the finer things of life on the canvas
Govt. assurance to safeguard schools facing sealing
Centre urges U.P. to renovate Sharda Canal
Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh protests against SEZs
Up close with the aftermath of Tsunami
Chargesheets filed against 19 in housing scam
Capital gets a taste of dense fog
Supreme Court asks Centre to amend law
Demand for CBI probe into building plans
Charity show for a noble cause
Spotlight on policing
Make Domestic Violence Act impartial: NGO
Young man arrested for threatening MPs
Three acquitted
"Capitalists have existed in every civilisation"
Antique idol seized in Delhi
"Terrorists roping in Govt. employees"
Briefly
In the Capital Today

Copyright © 2006, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu