Chennai:
The scheduled departure and arrival of 18 flights at Chennai airport was today delayed due to dense fog covering the runway, airport officials said.
Air traffic resumed after 7.30 am when visibility improved at the runway, they said.
Though Chennai airport can allow departure and arrival of flights even with 100 metre visibility, Air Traffic Control officials insisted on 400 metre visibility as a safety precaution, officials said.
Meanwhile, the departure of an Air India flight, bound for Maldives via Bengaluru, from Chennai has been delayed by over eight hours following a technical snag.
The flight, which was originally scheduled to depart with 126 passengers from the international airport here at 6.40 am, is now expected to take-off at 2.40 pm, the officials said.