Thick fog blankets Delhi; airport area battling zero visibility

NEW DELHI: Parts of the national capital and its surrounding areas were covered in a thick blanket of fog as the temperature dipped to 5.4 degrees Celsius on Friday morning.

Due to the fog cover, the visibility levels in the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) airport area reduced to zero on Friday morning.

The adverse conditions, however, did not have any major impact on flight operations. Delhi airport authorities however issued an advisory urging passengers to contact their concerned airline for flight information before leaving for the airport.

"Low Visibility Procedures are in progress at Delhi Airport. All flight operations are presently normal. Passengers are requested to contact the airline concerned for updated flight information," authorities said.

The CAT III or Category III -- an instrument landing system (ILS) that allows aircraft to land in low visibility conditions, operations for takeoffs and landings are necessitated when very dense fog causes poor or zero visibility.

"While landing and takeoffs continue at Delhi Airport, flights that are not CAT III compliant may get affected. Passengers are requested to contact the airline concerned for updated flight information. Any inconvenience caused is deeply regretted," they added.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) also said that visibility dipped to zero at Palam airport at 7:30 am.

Delhi's Safdarjung Airport (VIDD) also reported 200m visibility in dense fog conditions at 7:30 am, it added.