Due to the season’s thickest fog, 100 flights were delayed as visibility dipped to 50 meters at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport from 10 pm on Monday till 4 am Tuesday. Five other flights were diverted to Jaipur between 11 pm and midnight on Monday.
As parts of the haze spread from Punjab across the Indo-Gangetic plain, Delhi witnessed the season’s most intense fog between Monday night and Tuesday morning.
RK Jenamani, a Scientist at the India Meteorological Department (IMD), said visibility stayed low at most airports across northern India, with operations impacted at some places between 6 pm on Monday to 1 pm on Tuesday.
“The fog covered nearly 1 million sq km in area, covering north, central, and eastern India. As compared to the previous such spell of fog this winter, which occurred on December 27, the fog covered nearly three times more area on Monday night and Tuesday morning,” he said, adding that visibility stayed between 50 to 100 meters between 10 pm on January 2 and 4 am on January 3.
According to the officials, no flights are permitted to depart unless the runway visibility range (RVR) is 125 meters.