Air services hit due to fog in Delhi

Tribune News Service

Mohali, January 19

Flight operations at the Chandigarh international airport were disrupted today with one flight cancelled and nine flights delayed due to dense fog at the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport in Delhi.

Vistara’s flight to Delhi (UK 879) had to be grounded. Among the nine flights delayed, eight arrived late at the airport due to low visibility in Delhi, with the maximum delay being close to three hours.

Sources said over 20 flights were diverted from Delhi airport between 7.30 am and 9 am due to dense fog.

In a statement, Chandigarh International Airport Limited (CHIAL) PRO Deepesh Joshi said, “Operations were mainly disrupted between Delhi and Chandigarh. One flight was cancelled due to fog at the Delhi airport and runway closure in Chandigarh. The delayed flights include three SpiceJet flights, four Jet Airways flights, a flight each of IndiGo and Air India.”

Flight operations are expected to be disrupted in the coming week due to a NOTAM (notice to airmen) following restriction of airspace over Delhi in view of Republic Day celebrations.

An airport official said, “With the NOTAM, no commercial flight would be allowed to take off or land at the Delhi airport from 10.35 am to 12.15 pm in the coming week. If visibility is low, the morning flights would be hit. This would effectively mean that airport would be operational only for a few hours, considering change in watch hours.”

Trains continue to run late

Chandigarh: Trains continued their sluggish run on Friday. The Delhi–Kalka Shatabdi recorded a delay of half an hour whereas Lucknow-Chandigarh clocked a delay of an hour and 53 minutes. The Howrah-Kalka Mail reached late by seven hours. The Mumbai-Chandigarh Express recorded a delay of an hour and 58 minutes. TNS

Rain likely on Jan 23

Surinder Paul, the Director, Chandigarh Meteorological Centre, predicted a clear sky tomorrow. “However, there are strong chances of rain on Tuesday following which the temperature will fall,” said Paul.