More than 450 flights were affected after dense fog enveloped Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport on Friday morning bringing down visibility to zero for at least three hours.
No take-offs could take place between 6 a.m. and 9 a.m. while only those flights that are equipped to carry out landings in low visibility could arrive at the airport.
To add to the chaos, a no-fly zone over Delhi between 10.45 a.m. and 12.10 a.m. for fly-past rehearsals for Republic Day meant that even though fog cleared, flights had to wait until afternoon for take-offs and landings.
As many as 354 domestic flights and 83 international flights were delayed, some by as much as seven to 12 hours.
Nearly 18 flights were cancelled and five diverted.
The huge backlog and consequential delays meant almost all flights throughout the day and until late evening was impacted.
The IGI airport is equipped with CAT-IIIB technology which allows assisted landing even when visibility is below 50m .
The minimum for take-offs is 125 metres.