The Hindu : New Delhi News : Fog plays spoilsport with air passengers in Capital

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Thursday, Dec 14, 2006
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New Delhi

Fog plays spoilsport with air passengers in Capital

Staff Reporter

More than 22 flights delayed for three hours in some cases

SCENE AT DELHI AIRPORT: Passengers stranded at the IGI Airport on Wednesday morning as most of the flights are hit by heavy fog . — PHOTO: V.V. KRISHNAN

NEW DELHI: For the second day in a row fog played spoilsport with passengers who chose to fly early in the morning on Wednesday but officials claimed that the situation at Delhi airport was "under control", with less chaos than on the first day of the fog, more than 22 flights being delayed for as long as three hours in some cases. There were two diversions and two cancellations through the day. However, the delays kicked off a vicious cycle and most flights suffered from a late "hangover'' through the day.

"There was one runway in use during the period when visibility was low. The low visibility procedures were pressed into place at around 5 in the morning. Air operations were suspended for 90 minutes in the morning when visibility was very poor. But things came back to normal about 9-30 a.m. when the runway visibility range was over 1,000 metres,'' said a Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) official.

A total of 36 flights operated during the period when the low visibility procedures were in place.

Apart from poor visibility -- which led to air operations being suspended for some time -- the instrument for measuring the runway visibility range also malfunctioned. The result: it was impossible to gauge the visibility range on the runway. "The instrument is under the Metrological Department and was unserviceable from 6 a.m. to 7-20 a.m.,'' said Director-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) Kanu Gohain.

The DGCA has also issued additional guidelines to deal with the fog situation in the Capital. In an attempt to keep the situation under control, it has also reviewed the winter schedules of all airlines and amended or cancelled flights that are not compatible.

The DGCA has issued instructions to all airlines to inform passengers of delay or cancellation of their flights in advance. Airlines also have to update the flight information at the airport, so that passengers can be apprised of the delays if any.

"The airlines that have pilots that are trained for CAT III B conditions will be given priority in the start-up and sequencing to take-offs,'' said Mr. Gohain.

While the only domestic airlines to have achieved this distinction is Indian, most no-frill airlines claim that they have managed to take the first step towards this and have got their pilots CAT II compliant.

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