Major Delhi flights delayed due to fog

New Delhi: Delhi woke up to a chilly and foggy morning as minimum temperature plummeted to 9.1 degrees Celsius on Saturday.

The dense fog disrupted air traffic schedules in a big way as runway visibility dipped to around 75 metres since 6.30 hours IST, an airport spokesman said. General visibility was to around 50 meters.

On Thursday, mercury had touched a maximum of 22 degrees Celsius. Met officials have predicted fog will remain dense in the morning during late hours at night followed by mist.

Flight operations were disrupted at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi because of low visibility. The Runway Visibility Range went down to 25 metres at 0900 hours IST. Twenty flights were delayed and 5 flights were diverted due to poor visibility. One flight was cancelled.

Delhi faces severe delays due to the fog every year, and this winter promises to be little different. Delhi International Airport is the only Indian airport equipped with the CAT IIIB instrument landing system, which allows for landing when visibility is up to 50 metres.