Calm wind conditions, dipping night temperatures and moisture in the air resulted in shallow fog and low visibility conditions at the IGI airport early on Friday morning, with at least 80 flights reporting delays from the scheduled timing.

The new runway, 29-11, continues to be the worst affected by fog due to large open areas around it.

“There is a fresh spell of fog at IGIA. Runway 29 experienced Category I/II fog from 2:30 am to 9 am in the morning, whereas visibility at Runway 28 remained normal,” R K Jenamani, Director-in-charge, IGI Met Department said.

Several flights got delayed in the evening due to a huge backlog. Low Visibility Procedure (LVP) was enforced on the two functional runways. Runway 28 was used for departures and 29 for arrivals during this period.

“Safeguard procedure was initiated at 2.31 am while LVP was implemented at 7.26 am when the Runway Visual Range (RVR) at runway 28 was 1,300 metres and at 29 was 900 metres,” an airport official said. 

LVP lasted for 2 hours and 24 minutes when a total of 51 flights operated (including 45 domestic and 6 international). No flights were, however, diverted or cancelled. “The runways experienced low visibility during the day due to smog. Dense fog is expected on Friday night and early Saturday on the new runway, 29,” Jenamani said.

Coldest day
Delhiites were greeted with a misty and chilly morning as the temperature dipped to the season’s lowest at 6.4 degrees Celsius. The weatherman said the minimum temperature is likely to remain around seven degrees in the coming days due to the arrival of northerly winds from northern states. — PTI