Delhi Airport: What's Causing Flight Delays? It's Not Only Winter Fog

On January 14, 2024, North India experienced low visibility and dense fog, causing significant disruptions to flight operations.

Indigo, a major airline, issued a statement acknowledging the impact on their operations and expressing regret for the inconvenience caused to passengers.

Delhi airport, a crucial hub for air travel, witnessed chaos as flights faced extensive delays, with no departures for six consecutive hours. Arriving flights were also affected, forced to wait on the runway due to a lack of available parking spaces.

This was aggravated by the use of ‘CAT3’ technology, designed to facilitate aircraft navigation during low visibility conditions.

CAT3 compliant aircraft can land with visibility above 50 meters, but the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) recommends take-offs only at or above 125 meters visibility. Unfortunately, Delhi airport currently has only one operational CAT3 runway during dense fog, as a construction crane near another runway interferes with signals.

Delhi airport has requested the National Highways Authority of India and Airport Authority of India to address the issue by either removing or reducing the height of the crane. The hindrance caused by the crane has rendered one CAT3-enabled runway nonfunctional during low visibility, affecting the efficiency of flight movements.

Passengers faced extended hours inside aircraft on the runway due to the lack of parking slots after landing, leading to considerable chaos at the airport. Despite assurances from Union Minister for Civil Aviation Jyotiraditya Scindia, operational challenges persist.

While Delhi airport claims work on a third operational runway with CAT3 capability is nearing completion, challenges lie not only in enabling aircraft and runways but also in training sufficient pilots for this facility. Limited staff training due to associated costs contributes to undertrained CAT3 pilots, leading to flight diversions, according to DGCA.

IndiGo has assured that they have an adequate number of CAT III qualified pilots rostered for optimal operations during the winter season. However, recent reports suggest that flight diversions may have occurred due to undertrained CAT3 pilots, raising concerns and prompting scrutiny from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).