By IANS,
New Delhi : The fog in the capital cleared as the day progressed Sunday but several flights to and from Delhi were cancelled, delayed or diverted due to a backlog from the previous day, airport officials said. Parts of the city experienced light showers as well.
“There was fog around midnight but it started clearing by early morning which helped us in maintaining the operations,” an airport official said.
But at least six domestic flights, including ones to Amritsar, Srinagar and Leh were cancelled due to poor weather at their respective destinations. Some international flights were delayed by a few hours around midnight due to dense fog at that time. Twelve domestic flights were also delayed, he added.
At least 45 domestic departures and 25 arrivals were delayed by three to eight hours while 17 international flights were diverted Saturday due to thick fog over the national capital and a cable fault at the Indira Gandhi International Airport here.
The visibility on the runways at the airport Sunday improved to 600 metres. Thick fog Saturday had severely hit services at the airport and the heavy backlog led to cancellation of flights Sunday.
The visibility on the runways Saturday had fallen below 125 metres against the minimum 150 metres required for a flight to take off or land, leading to cancellation or diversion of nearly 40 domestic and international flights.
An Air India London-Delhi flight which was diverted to Mumbai Saturday left passengers high and dry. They were left clueless for over 10 hours before they returned to the national capital.
Delhi Sunday recorded a minimum temperature of 9.5 degrees Celsius, two notches above the average. The maximum temperature is expected to hover around 15 degrees Celsius, seven degrees below the average.
“The reducing gap between the minimum and maximum temperature in the city is the main reason for the chill. It will continue for the next few days. This is because of a western disturbance,” an official of the India Meteorological Department told IANS.