NEW DELHI: With visibility dropping to 50m at Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) due to dense fog on Friday morning, around 50 flights were delayed. As the meteorological department has predicted dense fog over the region during the next two days, airport officials said they were prepared to tackle the situation.
According to India Meteorological Department (IMD), the visibility at airport remained at 50 metres from 4.30am to 9.30am. “However, the runway visual range was the lowest between 7.30am and 9.30am at 100-200 metres. Of the three runways at the Delhi airport, two runways recorded fog from 7.30am while one runway saw fog from 4.30am,” said R K Jenamani, a senior scientist at IMD.
It was the second consecutive day when CAT-III procedures for low visibility were initiated at IGIA. Around 100 flights were delayed on Thursday due to dense fog.
Jenamani said the airport had been vulnerable to dense fog. “In this season, the peak hours for formation of dense fog are between 7am and 9am. As high moisture, winds and other conditions have become favourable, the dense fog is likely to continue for over two days in northwest India,” he added.
Airport officials said though some flights were delayed, no flight was cancelled or diverted. “Three runways (runways 11, 29 and 28) are equipped with the instrument landing system. The pilots who are trained in CAT- III procedures can make an aircraft to land with a minimum visibility of 50 meters, while an aircraft can take off with a visibility of 125 meters,” said an airport source.
Airport sources said those pilots who were not trained in CAT-III procedures waited at taxiway after all formalities like boarding were completed and took off after getting clearance as they needed visibility of around 500 metres. So some flights took off after their scheduled time.
The Delhi airport utilises Airport — Collaborative Decision Making (A-CDM) along with the airlines, the air traffic control and IMD for proper management of low visibility situations, airport sources said.
