Dense fog at the Kempegowda International Airport continued for the second day in a row, delaying over 50 departures as well as more than 30 flights arriving into the city on Friday morning.
The situation improved around 9 a.m. when visibility reached 700 metres, allowing flights to land. The CAT I ILS system at the KIA requires a runway visual range of 550 metres for operations. At 6 a.m., the visual range was reduced to just 100 metres with visibility dropping further to 50 metres by 6.30 a.m., according to Meteorological Department officials.
Three flights from New Delhi, Kolkata and Muscat had to be diverted because of the fog while several others landed only past 9 a.m. The delay in departure of the morning flights is expected to cause some delays further down the line.
According to the seven-day forecast by the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) the foggy conditions in the morning are likely to persist till January 2 with minimum temperatures in the 14-15 degrees Celsius range. This is most likely to put a damper on travel plans for many people on New Year’s Eve as well as January 1.
