Delhi is enveloped by a thick fog — so thick that visibility has been drastically reduced, disrupting flight and train schedules. On Sunday, the fog cover was so intense that it led to several hundred flights being delayed and the situation didn’t improve on Monday either.
On Tuesday (16 January), foggy conditions persisted in the national capital with Delhi’s IGI airport, one of the busiest aviation hubs in the country, experiencing the immediate consequences of the foggy weather. News agency ANI reported that nearly 30 flights departing from Delhi were delayed, while 17 others were cancelled.
And with flight schedules being severely disrupted, passengers were seen in large numbers, fuming over the long wait they have to endure at the airport for their flight to be rescheduled.
In fact, the situation has become so dire that the regulator, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) stepped in on Monday and issued new standard operating procedure (SOPs) for delays and cancellations amid this fog chaos.
Let’s see what has changed and what flyers can now do in case their plane is delayed or cancelled.
New rules amid fog chaos
Against the backdrop of a significant number of flights getting delayed or cancelled, leading to angry commuters, the aviation watchdog on Monday issued new guidelines for airlines.
This move came after Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia had earlier said all stakeholders are working round-the-clock to minimise fog-related disruptions in flight operations and that DGCA will come out with SOPs to ensure “better communication and facilitation of passengers to minimise discomfort in view of flight cancellations and delays due to adverse weather”.
And by Monday evening, the aviation regulator issued their new rules. Firstly, airlines have been permitted to cancel, sufficiently in advance, flights that are anticipated to be delayed by a period beyond three hours. This, according to the DGCA, will reduce the congestion at airports and mitigate passenger inconvenience.
Moreover, airlines will have to publish accurate real-time information regarding delays of flights, which shall have to published on the airline’s website. The airline will also have to inform affected passengers through SMS/WhatsApp and email.
Airline staff at airports are required to be appropriately sensitised to effectively communicate, guide, and continuously inform passengers about flight delays.
A man is seen with his luggage cart amidst heavy fog at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi. Countless flights have been delayed or cancelled owing to the dense fog conditions in the capital. File image/Reuters
The aviation regulator has also mandated that all airlines publish the reference of Civil Aviation Requirement (CAR) — pertaining to ‘facilities to be provided to passengers by airlines due to denied boarding, cancellation of flights and delays in flights’— on the flight tickets in order to make flyers aware of their rights.
Fogged out in Delhi
The new SOPs issued by the DGCA comes after flyers at IGI airport had the most harrowing weekend, spilling over into Monday. On Sunday, passengers were left frustrated and angry after flights kept getting cancelled.
The stressful day also saw a passenger attacking a pilot inside an IndiGo plane while it was on the tarmac. The man, who was identified later as a Sahil Kataria, was later arrested and let out on bail.
And it didn’t end there. On Monday night, passengers aboard an IndiGo flight from Goa to Delhi, which was diverted to Mumbai owing to the fog conditions in the capital, sat on the tarmac, and some were also seen having food. The airport operators and the Quick Response Team (QRT) of the CISF cordoned off the passengers into a safety zone shortly after they sat down on the tarmac.
#Passengers eat food on tarmac, next to plane, after 12-hour delay.
In the #Video, the exhausted passengers are seen #sitting on the #tarmac just a few steps away from an #Indigo plane, and having their #meals.#Indians #Airport #flightdelay #Flight #flights#LittyTomson #Nagpur pic.twitter.com/7VBfWwMYVJ
— Litty Tomson (@litty_tomson) January 15, 2024
A Mumbai airport spokesperson later said, “IndiGo flight 6E 2195 (Goa to Delhi) was diverted due to unfavourable weather conditions. As the flight was already significantly delayed in Goa, passengers were irate and rushed out of the aircraft as soon as the step ladder was connected.”
Other harrowing tales have also emerged owing to the flight delays. A passenger on board an Air India flight bound for Bengaluru at 2.45 am on Sunday, which was delayed by nine hours, spoke of his nightmare. “It was suffocating inside the aircraft but the crew told us to remain seated without giving us more information. After some passengers started screaming, we deboarded around 11.30 am,” said the passenger to Times of India.
Social media was flooded with complaints from flyers and their loved ones, as they spoke of their nightmarish experiences at Delhi airport.
Raisina Hills area during a cold and foggy winter morning, in New Delhi. The fog has reduced visibility in the Capital to just a few 100 metres. PTI
Delhi enveloped in fog
The travel chaos in the national capital is owing to heavy fog. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has also issued an orange alert today (16 January) on account of the heavy fog. On Monday, the fog had reduced visibility to 200 metres in the city.
The fog enveloping the capital is owing to the cold conditions there. For the past four days, the minimum temperature has been hovering around 3 to 4 degrees Celsius. On 14 and 15 January, minimum temperature was 3.5 degrees Celsius, while on Saturday it was 3.6 degree Celsius and on Friday, it was recorded at 3.9 degrees Celsius.
And there’s no relief in sight. The IMD has said that very dense fog conditions are likely to continue in north India for the next four-five days.
With inputs from agencies
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