Delhi's IGI airport makes arrangements for fog season, low visibility likely from December-end

NEW DELHI: The Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL), which operates the IGI airport here, on Thursday said that it has made arrangements to minimise any inconvenience caused to passengers due to flight disruptions caused by the upcoming fog season.

The occurrence of severe to heavy fog conditions triggers 'Low Visibility Procedures' (LVP) at the airport, when visibility for flight operations is reduced to around 50 meters.

Presently, the three runways at the airport -- 28, 29 and 11 -- are certified for 'CAT III B' operations, which would allow landing of the compliant aircraft with visibility as low as 50 meters.

According to DIAL CEO Videh Kumar Jaipuriar, the airport's terminal team has taken steps to ensure that a sufficient supply of food and beverages is maintained and that updated flight information is presented to passengers.

Currently, the airport handles 74 flight movements per hour. On a daily basis 1,330 flight movements are handled at the IGIA.

On a global average, foggy conditions are known to reduce flight operations on an hourly basis by up to 40 per cent.

"IGI airport, Delhi is well equipped to handle aircraft operations safely during the periods of poor visibility. For this, the LVP for handling air traffic during fog have been promulgated for all Air Traffic Controllers at IGI Airport," said SB Sharma, General Manager, Air Traffic Management (ATM)-ATC.

"Additionally, a Collaborative Decision Making Cell (CDM Cell) is well established at IGI Airport for better coordination among all the stakeholders especially during the periods of fog. With these measures predictability of flight operations would improve and commuting of passengers would be facilitated."

The meteorological office at IGI expects the airport to encounter heavy fog from the last week of December and a few spells in January 2019.