A man wheels the trolleys to the arrival section amidst heavy fog at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi.
Credit: Reuters Photo
A total of 53 flights scheduled have been cancelled due to fog and operational reasons from and to the Delhi airport, ANI reported on Wednesday citing the Delhi Airport FIDS (Flight Information Display System).
These include 21 domestic arrivals, 16 domestic departures, along with 13 international departures and three arrivals that were scheduled.
Flight delays due to fog came under focus when a passenger aboard a Delhi-Goa flight hit the pilot who was announcing the delay. Later, the same day, passengers onboard a flight from Goa - which was diverted to Mumbai - and delayed for around 12 hours, staged a protest and sat and ate on the tarmac.
The video went viral and drew the attention of Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia who has listed out a set of steps to help combat the situation.
What airports are doing to deal with the fog problem
On January 15, Scindia had outlined some steps to help mitigate the problem. He said that Delhi airport has been asked to immediately expedite the operationalization of the CAT III-enabled 4th runway (in addition to the existing CAT III-enabled runway) to the satisfaction of the DGCA, so it might get approvals.
Scindia added that the DGCA would issue an SOP for airlines on better communication and facilitation of passengers to minimise discomfort in view of flight cancellations and delays due to adverse weather.
Yesterday, he added a few more points, noting that authorities have sought incidence reporting thrice daily for all 6 metro airports. Further, the DGCA's directives, SOPs, and CARs will be monitored and reported regularly.
Scindia continued, ‘war rooms’ would be set up by airports and airline operators at the 6 Metro Airports to address any issues concerning passenger inconvenience with immediacy.
The Union Minister also noted that sufficient CISF manpower availability would be ensured round-the-clock.