All the four flights that were scheduled to land at the airport here between 8.30 a.m. and 9 a.m. on Thursday were delayed due to fog. All of them landed after 9.30 a.m. due to the thick fog in and around the airport, which resulted in poor visibility. Around 400 passengers on an average fly out of the airport by the four flights.
The Dubai-Visakhapatnam (via Hyderabad) flight, Jet Airways flight from Bangalore, SpiceJet from Mumbai and Indigo flight from Chennai were delayed due to fog. Passengers going to Delhi and other destinations were delayed due to the late arrival of the flights. “This is the first time during this winter that flights were delayed due to fog in Visakhapatnam. The ILS (Instrument Landing System) at our airport is ‘Category 1’ and requires minimum visibility for landing,” Airport Director K. Srinivasa Rao told The Hindu.
Delhi Airport has Category 2 B ILS, which is the best in India. Category 3 ILS is not available at any airport in India.
Motorists too, both two-wheeler and car drivers, had a tough time in reaching the airport due to visibility dropping to near zero on the roads in the early hours on Thursday.
