Dense Fog Causes Travel Chaos In Delhi, 150 Flights Delayed, Some Diverted

Delhi and parts of north India remains engulfed in dense fog with reduced visibility posing challenges for flights and trains linking the national capital with the rest of the country.

Schools are also set to open in the city today after a two-week winter break though timings have been restricted due to severe cold.

Eighteen trains have been delayed today.

Delhi airport has issued a dense fog alert as thousands of passengers await patiently for their flights. Fliers have been asked to stay updated about the flight details since delays are usual on foggy mornings.

As many as 168 flights have been delayed and 84 flights cancelled at the Delhi airport today, showed flight tracker website flightradar24 this morning, with an average delay of about an hour.

But the delays ran up to several hours in some cases with a passenger claiming he had to wait 13 hours for his flight to Goa.

Major airlines like IndiGo, SpiceJet and Vistara said bad weather conditions in Delhi and Kolkata may impact flights. An early morning Delhi-Kolkata flight was diverted to Hyderabad, Vistara said.

The air quality has improved to ‘very poor’ from the ‘severe’ category.

A similar fog condition disrupted flight and train services in Delhi yesterday with zero visibility reported in the airport area. The season’s first cold wave day was on Friday with the temperature dipping to 3.9 degrees Celsius. Saturday’s was coldest night at 3 degrees.