Tue 16 January 2024:
For the third day in a row, an extreme cold wave blanketed much of northern India with dense fog on Tuesday, causing more than 160 flights to be delayed due to poor visibility.
The aviation regulator said in an email to airlines that they are required to share accurate, real-time information about flight delays to passengers with immediate effect.
“Airlines may cancel, sufficiently in advance, such flights that are anticipated to be delayed or consequentially delayed on account of (weather) conditions beyond a period of 3 hours with a view to obviate congestion at the airport”, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation said in the email, made public on Monday.
At least 18 trains to Delhi from different parts of the country were running late because of dense fog, news agency ANI, in which Reuters has a minority stake, said on X, citing a railway document.
According to aviation website Flightradar24, up to 128 flights from the capital’s international airport were delayed and 33 were canceled. This had an impact on travel schedules all throughout the country.
Visibility at the airport stood at 50 m at 8 a.m., weather officials said, predicting similar conditions until the end of the week, Reuters reported.
New Delhi’s lowest temperature this winter was 3.3 degrees Celsius on Monday, when low visibility and dense fog caused the delay of as many as 500 flights and the cancellation of 87.
Angry passengers argued with airline staff in images on television and social media, with one video showing passengers eating dinner as they waited on the tarmac for a delayed flight.
On Monday, the aviation minister said authorities were hastening efforts to use an additional runway, equipped with the CAT III navigation system that enables aircraft to land despite low visibility.
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