The Hindu : New Delhi News : Smog delays flights at Indira Gandhi airport

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Wednesday, Mar 05, 2008
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Smog delays flights at Indira Gandhi airport

Staff Reporter

General visibility was just about1,000 metres at 12-30 a.m.

– Photo: V.V. Krishnan

Caught in a jam: Heavy rush at Delhi airport on Tuesday due to delay of many morning flights because of thick smog.

NEW DELHI: Several flights were delayed at Indira Gandhi International Airport here on Tuesday morning because of poor visibility caused by smog.

According to the Airport Meteorological Department, a haze that had developed overnight gave way to heavy smog in the early hours of the morning that threw flight schedules into disarray.

“The general visibility was around 1,000 metres at 12-30 a.m. but decreased to 350 metres by 1-30 a.m. The conditions cleared up marginally at 7-30 a.m. with a shallow smog still in the air. An hour later around 8-30 a.m. the smog lifted completely giving way to clear conditions,” said an official.

As a result, the brunt of the delays was borne by morning passengers.

“My flight to Hyderabad was delayed by half an hour. I was informed of the delay before boarding the plane and even the pilot was apologetic about the tardiness,” said a passenger on board a Kingfisher airlines flight.

“We never expected fog or smog delays at this time of the year. Despite rising temperature, the presence of smog near the airport in the morning came as an unpleasant surprise,” said the passenger.

The delays aggravated the already congested conditions at the airport because of ongoing renovation work. Long queues were observed at various ticketing counters and the lounge was crammed with waiting passengers.

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