New Delhi:
There seems to be no respite from fog for travellers in Delhi.
Flight operations at the IGI airport remained suspended this morning due to dense fog which disrupted the schedules of over 50 domestic and international flights.
No flights have taken-off or landed after 8 am as the runway visibility dropped to 50 metres on both the runways due to dense fog that enveloped the airport early in the morning, airport sources said.
About 12 incoming and outgoing morning flights were cancelled.
According to Met Department, the fog started to descend on the airport in the wee hours and it began to thicken around 5 am, reducing the general visibility to less than 50 metres while runway visibility was reduced to around 250 metres.
Within an hour, the runway visibility dropped to 75 metres and by 7.30 am it further deteriorated to 50 metres, affecting the movement of several morning flights.
No flights could land even using the CAT-III B instrument landing system, as the minimum permissible limit to land under such conditions is 50 metres, while the limit for low visibility take-off is 150 metres.
"Our first flight takes off at around 6 am but no flights have departed," said an Air India official, adding no flight has arrived also due to poor visibility.
Delhi's airspace would also remain close for an hour between 11.15 am and 12.15 pm for fly-past of Indian Air Force aircraft during the Republic Day parade.
After remaining disrupted for almost a week, Delhi airport on Monday witnessed a fog-free day helping the airlines to maintain its schedule.
The Met department said that the fog could dissipate only after 11.30 am and by 1.30 it would turn into shallow fog.
Details of flights affected:
Domestic arrivals cancelledSG211 Hyderabad - Coimbatore - Delhi
6E183 Mumbai - Delhi
9W2257 Hyderabad - Delhi
IT4315 Jaipur - Delhi
Domestic departures cancelled9W332 Delhi - Mumbai
S2231 Delhi - Bangalore
6E308 Delhi - Hyderabad
6E184 Delhi - Mumbai
9W301 Delhi - Mumbai
9W3319 Delhi - Chandigarh
IT433 Delhi - Chandigarh - Srinagar
Departures delayedS2137 Delhi - Lucknow
IC607 Delhi - Kolkotta
9W801 Delhi - Bangalore
IT3802 Delhi - Hyderabad
IT3341 Delhi - Leh
IT3651 Delhi - Lucknow
9W2631 Delhi - Amritsar
S26143 Delhi - Bhubaneswar
SG217 Delhi - Pune
9W336 Delhi - Mumbai - Trivandrum
SG851 Delhi - Jammu - Srinagar
IT600 Delhi - Chandigarh