Low visibility conditions at the Indira Gandhi International Airport impacted flight operations through most of the day on Tuesday as Delhiites woke up to a cold, foggy Christmas morning. Nearly 84 flights were delayed and two flights cancelled, airport sources said.
Departures had to be put on hold for an hour in the morning hours as visibility fell below 50 metres.
Five incoming flights were diverted to nearby airports, including three international ones. The airport has CAT IIIB instrument landing system which allows aircraft to land even when visibility is as low as 50 metres.
Western disturbance
The MeT Department said that minimum temperatures are likely to fall by by 2-3 degrees Celsius under the influence of a feeble western disturbance in the Himalayan region and in the next three-four days and dense fog, ground frost and cold wave conditions are likely to prevail in the Capital.
“Moderate/dense fog in the morning on December 26, shallow/moderate fog in the morning will prevail between December 27 and December 29,” said the MeT Department in its bulletin. It added that moderate/dense fog would return on December 30.
On Tuesday, the maximum temperature fell to 19.5 degrees Celsius, two degrees below normal and the minimum temperature settled at 5 degrees Celsius that was three degrees below normal. Minimum and maximum temperatures are likely to settle between 20 degrees Celsius and 4 degrees Celsius.
Due to the cold weather and low wind speeds, the air quality also remained poor for the fourth consecutive day. Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) data showed the overall air quality index (AQI) score was 409. According to SAFAR, Delhi’s overall air quality is expected to improve due to increased wind speed from December 26 and it will go back to very poor category for the the next three days.
