New Delhi: Delhi is facing significant travel disruptions as dense fog blankets the city and northern parts of India, impacting flights and trains connecting the national capital with the rest of the country.
Flight tracker website flightradar24 reports that 168 flights have been delayed, and 84 flights have been canceled at Delhi airport today. The average delay is approximately one hour, but some passengers have experienced delays of several hours, with one individual claiming a 13-hour wait for a flight to Goa.
Major airlines such as IndiGo, SpiceJet, and Vistara have alerted passengers about potential flight disruptions due to adverse weather conditions in Delhi and Kolkata. Vistara reported the diversion of an early morning Delhi-Kolkata flight to Hyderabad.
The situation has prompted Delhi airport to issue a fog alert, urging travelers to stay informed about flight details.
The ongoing fog situation has caused chaos at Delhi airport, with thousands of passengers patiently awaiting their flights. The airport management has advised travelers to stay updated on flight details, acknowledging that delays are commonplace during foggy mornings.
Despite the reopening of schools in the city after a two-week winter break, severe cold has led to restricted timings. In addition to challenges for educational institutions, the dense fog has resulted in delays for eighteen trains today.
Despite the travel chaos, there is a slight improvement in air quality, moving from the 'severe' category to 'very poor.' The situation follows a similar disruption in flight and train services in Delhi yesterday, where zero visibility was reported at the airport.
This fog-induced travel disruption coincides with the onset of the season's first cold wave, with temperatures dropping to 3.9 degrees Celsius on Friday. Saturday marked the coldest night, recording a temperature of 3 degrees.