In a statement issued today, the civil aviation ministry has also admitted that they have spent considerable amount of money on other measures.

In a meeting held to beef up operations at the Delhi Airport, it was decided that the existing Instrument Landing System (ILS) at IGI Airport would be upgraded. At present the ILS is of category-I level, which permits landing upto Runway Visual Range (RVR) of 600 metres and above.

However, in weather like this, when RVR is below 600 metres, flights cannot land or take off. Airports Authority of India (AAI) is in the process of upgrading the ILS to Category-II level, which will reduce flight delays considerably, though not completely.

However, the Met Department officials have recommended that they upgrade the ILS to category-III level, as in such low visibility conditions, category-II would not be of much help. Therefore, Civil Aviation Minister Anath Kumar has decided that the ILS at Delhi Airport would be upgraded by AAI to category-III level by November 1999.

It has also been decided that the existing system will be upgraded with immediate effect to alleviate the suffering of passengers. Round-the-clock Flight Information System has been geared up and passengers can call at 140, 142, 5665317 and 5665181 for information about flight timings.