Flight operations at Delhi's Indira Gandhi International (IGI) airport were disrupted on Wednesday, with approximately 120 flights, including international ones, experiencing significant delays due to fog and operational issues. Additionally, 53 flights were canceled. The biting cold and fog in the national capital affected visibility, leading to challenges in both flight and train schedules.
According to data from the Delhi Airport Flight Information Display System (FIDS), the affected flights comprised 21 international departures, 23 international arrivals, 33 domestic departures, and 43 domestic arrivals. Of the total affected flights, 53 were canceled, involving 21 domestic arrivals, 16 domestic departures, 13 international departures, and 3 international arrivals, as reported by FIDS until 8 am on Wednesday.
Simultaneously, around 20 passenger trains to Delhi faced delays, with notable examples being the Puri-Nizamuddin Purushottam Express and Hyderabad-New Delhi, both experiencing delays of around 6-6.30 hours. Other trains, such as Azamgarh-Delhi Junction Kaifiyat Express and Ambedkarnagar-Katra, were also running behind schedule, expecting delays of approximately five hours. The Katihar-Amritsar Express was projected to arrive around four-and-a-half hours late, according to railway data.
Several other trains, including Rewa-Anand Vihar Express, Vasco-Nizamuddin Express, Bhopal-Nizamuddin Express, Khajarao-Kurukshetra, Amritsar-Mumbai, and Manikpru-Nizamuddin, were anticipated to be late by around 2-2.45 hours. Eight long-distance trains faced delays of approximately 1-1.30 hours, including Howrah-Kalka Mail, Saharsa-New Delhi Vaishali Express, Prayagraj-New Delhi Express, Muzaffarpur-Anand Vihar, Chennai-New Delhi, and Jammutawi-Ajmer, according to railway authorities.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) reported visibility below 200 meters in various parts of the country, including Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, West Rajasthan, West and East Uttar Pradesh around 5:30 am on Wednesday. Furthermore, dense fog was observed in isolated areas of Delhi, East Rajasthan, East Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Arunachal Pradesh, and Assam on Wednesday morning, according to IMD data.