Several flight operations in New Delhi, Bengaluru, Kolkata and Hyderabad were affected on Monday as a dense fog engulfed parts of the states, bringing down the visibility. While passengers complained of delays and disruptions on social media, airlines, including IndiGo and SpiceJet, informed them about the ‘low visibility’. Meanwhile, the Delhi airport issued an advisory for passengers requesting them to contact their concerned airline for flight information.

Delhi airport

Eight flights heading to Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International or IGI airport were diverted – seven to Jaipur and one to Ahmedabad – due to a thick layer of fog that enveloped the national capital, bringing down the visibility to zero in some parts of the city.

The Delhi airport issued an advisory for passengers saying, “While landing and take-offs continue at Delhi airport, flights that are not CAT III compliant may get affected. Passengers requested to contact the airline concerned for updated flight information. Any inconvenience caused is deeply regretted.”

Notably, the CAT III instrument is an anti-fog landing system initiated during poor visibility.

According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), very dense fog with zero visibility prevailed at the Delhi airport since 5:30am, adding that the visibility in various parts of the national capital dropped to a mere 125 metres.

Bengaluru airport

Bengaluru also woke up to a blanket of thick fog covering the city. Two Hyderabad-bound Vistara flights from Bengaluru and Mumbai returned to their respective departure stations on Monday morning due to bad weather conditions in Hyderabad.

The first flight, UK837 from Mumbai to Hyderabad, returned to Mumbai due to poor weather at Hyderabad airport. Similarly, the second flight, UK897 from Bangalore to Hyderabad, was diverted and returned.

Kolkata airport

Kolkata’s Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport also witnessed flight delays due to low visibility on Monday morning.

A thick blanket of fog also engulfed Punjab’s Bathinda on Monday morning, causing inconvenience for commuters. Commuters complained that, along with the cold, the risk of accidents has increased in the city due to thick fog, reported ANI.

Meanwhile, several people travelling in a Haryana roadways bus were injured after it collided with a trolley near Ashrafgarh Dauri village in the Jind district. According to passengers, the accident took place due to the dense fog in the area, reported ANI.

IMD predicts fog in several states

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted very dense fog in several parts of the country till January 2. According to the weather department, very dense fog conditions are likely to prevail during the morning hours in isolated pockets of Punjab, Haryana, and East Uttar Pradesh from 25 to 27 December and over Rajasthan and north Madhya Pradesh on December 25.

Meanwhile, dense fog conditions are likely to prevail in isolated pockets over West Uttar Pradesh from December 25 to 27; Gangetic West Bengal on December 25; Odisha on December 25 and 26; Rajasthan on December 26; Madhya Pradesh on December 26 and 27; Punjab and Haryana on December 28 and 29. In Delhi, the IMD has forecast dense fog from December 25 to 28 and foggy conditions on December 29 and 30.

In the northeastern states, the weather agency predicted fog conditions over Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, and Tripura from December 27 to 29.