Ten flights diverted, nearly 100 delayed as dense fog disrupts operations at Delhi airport

New Delhi: A total of 10 flights were diverted, nearly 100 delayed and some cancelled at the Delhi airport on Sunday morning as low visibility conditions due to dense fog disrupted operations.

An official said a total of 10 flights, including 2 international flights, were diverted to Jaipur between 4.30 am and 12 noon.

Nearly 100 flights, including overseas services, were delayed and some of the flights cancelled due to the bad weather, the official said.

Through social media, airlines said their flight schedules might be impacted due to adverse weather conditions. Among the impacted flights, Air India's flight AI 185 from the national capital to Vancouver that was to depart early in the morning was rescheduled.

Passengers had to wait inside the aircraft for many hours before they deboarded. After boarding was complete, the flight, which was to depart little past 5 am could not take off due to the dense fog.

An airline official said that after waiting for a few hours, it was decided to reschedule the departure of the flight as the crew would have also breached the flight duty timing requirements.

Now, the flight is expected to leave at around 11.30 pm. The passengers have been provided accommodation, the official added.

At 8.38 am, the Delhi airport said that due to dense fog, flight operations at the airport may get affected.

"Passengers are requested to contact the airline concerned for updated flight information," it said in a post on X.

A thick layer of fog shrouded Delhi and other parts of North India on Sunday, with visibility levels plunging to zero metres at several places. The country's largest airline IndiGo, in a post on X at 6.17 am, said that due to prevailing weather challenges in Northern India, flight schedules may experience interruptions.

Vistara, in a post on X at 6.38 am, said that due to dense fog and poor visibility in Delhi, arrivals and departures may be impacted from Delhi.

'Due to adverse weather (fog) at Delhi, Chennai, Varanasi, Bagdogra & Lucknow our flight schedules have been affected, which may lead to consequential delays. We understand this may impact your travel plans and regret the inconvenience...,' Akasa Air said in a post on X at 12.12 pm.

Meanwhile, in a post on X at 1.35 pm, Akasa Air said that due to fog in Varanasi, four flights have been cancelled. They are Bengaluru-Varanasi, Varanasi-Mumbai, Mumbai-Varanasi and Varanasi-Bengaluru flights.

During December 25-28 last year, flight operations were significantly impacted at the Delhi airport, and nearly 60 flights of various airlines were diverted due to dense fog.

Last month, airport sources had said that a total of 58 flights were diverted due to bad weather between 0000 hours of December 25 to 0600 hours of December 28.

Recently, aviation regulator DGCA issued show cause notices to Air India and SpiceJet for not deploying pilots trained to operate in low visibility conditions, following diversions of various flights amid dense fog at the Delhi airport in late December.