Fog hits air, rail traffic on Day 1 of New Year

New Delhi: Over 300 flights were delayed and eight cancelled as dense fog severely hampered visibility at the IGI Airport on Monday morning. Nearly all flights arriving to and departing from Delhi were affected. About 265 domestic flights and 67 international flights were delayed. While 56 trains were late, 20 were rescheduled and 15 trains were cancelled due to dense fog at the national capital region.

It was the second consecutive day with minimum temperature settling at 5.7° Celsius here in the city. Hundreds of passengers braved the morning chill as they remained stranded for hours at the airport and Delhi railway stations.

“Delhi woke up to worst fog of the season. Most of the north-western plains are in its grip. Day temperature will fall significantly,” said Mahesh Palawat, the vice-president at Skymet Weather, adding that the minimum temperature of 5.7° was the “lowest minimum of the season.”

All the terminals at the IGI Airport were packed with passengers, who drove on fog covered roads to catch their morning flights. The visibility, which was 1,500 metres at 3.30 am, dropped rapidly to zero at 5.30 am.