Passengers look at a flight information display while waiting for their flights at Indira Gandhi International Airport, in New Delhi. File picture for representation
| Photo Credit: ANI
The season’s first intense fog threw flights into disarray on Monday (December 15, 2025) at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport as hundreds of flights were delayed and some diverted when departures were halted for nearly six hours till 10 a.m. Landings occurred intermittently as visibility dropped below permissible levels.
IndiGo, which has already been witnessing hundreds of flight cancellations since the beginning of December, announced it was cancelling 145 flights due to poor visibility conditions.
Runway visual range (visibility with runway lights on) was between 75 metres to 100 metres at 7 a.m., below the minimum permissible level of 125 metres needed for takeoffs. There were no takeoffs at IGI airport till 10 a.m. on Monday, after which departures resumed slowly.
Taxiways were packed with aircraft queuing up for their turn to take off, where they waited for three to four hours. A few aircraft were forced to return to the parking bay for refuelling.
Arrivals were also intermittent and were carried under CAT 3B conditions, or an advanced instrument landing system was used for RVR of 75 metres.
The Ministry of Civil Aviation, Delhi airport and airlines issued advisories for air travellers to seek real-time flight updates and plan for additional travel time.
Published – December 15, 2025 02:29 pm IST
