The fog, which enveloped Kempegowda International Airport on Saturday morning reduced visibility from 1,000 metres to 100 metres in a mere eight minutes between 3.51 a.m. and 3.59 a.m., according to the Meteorological Department station at the airport.
As visibility reduced further to around 50 metres between 4 a.m. and 8 a.m., operations were stalled and several passengers were forced to wait for upwards of four hours before their flights finally took off.
“I wanted to go home and thought I would take an early morning flight to Delhi before flying onward to Imphal. However, my flight took off at 9.35 a.m. instead of 7.10 a.m. I missed my onward flight that was at 10.30 a.m. The next flight is only available on Sunday and I will have to pay more for the ticket now,” rued Mahesh Paonam, who works in the city.
Passengers took to social media to vent their frustration at the long wait. Some had boarded their flights, but were stuck on the runway as a drop in visibility made take offs and landings impossible.
“Around 180 passengers from three flights were delayed today because of fog. A minimum of 300 metres visibility is required to take off from the airport. As a result, three morning flights had to be delayed till the fog cover lifted. This has had a cascading effect on our operations, as the minimum time of rest for our flight captains will be affected because of delayed take offs. We have to see what the situation is on Sunday,” said Shyson Thomas, CEO of Air Pegasus, which is based in the city.
