Fog continues to hit flight schedule at Mohali airport

Mohali, January 7

Dense fog and low visibility continued to spoil the flight schedule at Shaheed Bhagat Singh International (SBSI) Airport here today with 13 flights having been cancelled and as many delayed. The morning departures to Mumbai and Bengaluru were cancelled, while the flight from Pune could not arrive at the airport.

After the departure of Mumbai flight at 6:18 pm, only one flight to Mumbai (7:59 pm) took off on time, while the rest all were cancelled or delayed. Five evening flight arrivals — Jaipur (7:55 pm), Delhi (10.05 pm), Hyderabad (10:10 pm), Mumbai (10:25 pm) and Ahmedabad 11:25 pm) were cancelled for the day.

The departing flight to Dubai was late by about 40 minutes, while the arrival was on time at 3:14 pm. Most of the flights were late by about an hour today.

With rain predicted on January 8 and 9, foggy conditions are likely to subside after that. The flight schedule has gone awry due to fog and low visibility since December 28. Flights have been cancelled or delayed on a daily basis. The situation gets exacerbated during the morning and evening hours. For the past one week, the early morning and late night flights have been affected.

The flight connectivity at the airport is seriously hampered during this time of the year for around a month when the need for advanced Instrument Landing System (ILS) is felt the most. Airport officials cited defence installations near the airport and heavy maintenance expenses on the ILS as reason for the airport not having been equipped with the advanced facility. On an average, it is required for 15-20 days in a year for night landings here, they added. At present, the airport is equipped with Category 2 ILS.

Airport not equipped with advanced ILS

Airport officials cited defence installations near the airport and heavy maintenance expenses on the advanced instrument landing system (ILS) as reason for the airport not having been equipped with this facility. On an average, it is required only for 15-20 days in a year for night landings here, they added. At present, the airport is equipped with Category 2 ILS.