The weather on Tuesday disrupted flight operations at the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) for the third consecutive day as nine flights had to be cancelled and over 150 flights were affected. A number of trains also were delayed, leaving hundreds of passengers stranded at railway stations across the Capital.
Officials said that the visibility on Tuesday morning was better than the previous two days and hence flight operations were not severely affected. However, they confirmed that the Low Visibility Procedures (LVP) were put in place for 15 hours, starting 9 pm on Monday to 12.30 pm on Tuesday.
“During LVP, nine flights were cancelled of which five were due to Delhi weather, while four due to other reasons,” the official said.
He added that the information related to the delays and cancellations was updated time to time at the Delhi Airport’s website to keep the passenger’s informed.
Last year, 18 Runway Visual Range devices were installed at the IGIA with full redundancy on main runways 11/29 and 10/28 and partial redundancy on runway 27. This was done to reduce delays and congestion due to fog by devising a plan that would ensure the smooth flight information, on an almost real-time basis, to the passengers.
Officials further said that keeping in mind the fog and adverse weather conditions expected in future, they would undertake several measures to ensure passenger convenience.
“Display of weather information inside terminals, additional conspicuous help desks at entry gates where information on cancellations and delays will be displayed and additional seating capacity in the terminal building will be ensured. Apart from this, airlines will be briefed for deployment of additional staff for appropriate manning of check-in counters, boarding gate areas during fog,” the officer said.
A number of railway passengers were also left stranded as more than two dozen trains were affected in Delhi Division due to weather and other operational reasons. Senior railway officers, however, said that adequate arrangements have been made to ensure zero inconvenience to passengers. “Railway Protection Force and the GRP have also been asked to stay alert and since many are left stranded, ensure effective crowd control,” said a senior officer.