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Flight operations hit at Delhi's IGI airport as dense fog shrouds capital | What is CAT III?
CAT III conditions are in effect, and airlines recommend that passengers verify flight status as visibility may drop significantly in the coming hours.
Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport on Monday night issued a fresh advisory as the national capital stood blanketed by intense fog for the second straight day, with the India Meteorological Department (IMD) issuing an alert for dense to very dense fog over the next few hours.
Citing the intense foggy conditions over the capital city, Delhi airport operator DIAL at 11 pm stated that flight operations are currently under CAT III conditions, which might result in flight disruptions.
“Due to dense fog, flight operations are currently under CAT III conditions, resulting in flight disruptions,” the post read adding that on-ground officials are working in close coordination with stakeholders to assist the affected passengers and provide support across all terminals of Indira Gandhi International Airport.
Airport authorities urged passengers to contact their respective airlines and check for changes, if any on their flight schedules.
What is CAT III?
In aviation terms, CAT III or the CAT III complaint refers to a type of instrument landing system (ILS) approach that allows landing in conditions of very low visibility during fog, rain, or snow, The Quint reported.
According to Skybrary, a CAT III approach is a precision instrument approach and landing with no decision height or a decision height lower than 100ft (30m) and a runway visual range not less than 700ft (200m).
CAT III operations are predominantly aimed at providing a a level of safety that is equivalent to other operations but in the most unfavourable weather conditions posed by rain, snow or intense fog that hamper visibility significantly.
The operations require real time updates and reports of the visibility over the runway which a pilot may expect to encounter in the takeoff or touchdown zone.
Airlines issue advisory as dense fog engulfs national capital
As Delhi grips with intense foggy conditions, airlines including IndiGo and Air India issued advisories on Monday night warning passengers of possible disruption in flight operations over the next few hours.
“Early-morning fog is expected to affect visibility across Delhi, Amritsar, Chandigarh, Jammu, Kolkata, Ranchi, Guwahati and Hindon (Airport). During these hours, visibility can reduce suddenly, impacting flight operations,” IndiGo wrote on its official X (formerly Twitter) handle.
IndiGo further affirmed that its teams will remain fully prepared through the night, and would monitor the weather regularly.
Air India also issued a similar advisory where it said that flight schedules to and from Delhi will be affected in view of dense fog.
“Weather forecast continues to indicate dense fog for tomorrow morning with significantly reduced visibility at Delhi and parts of northern India. This will affect flight schedules to and from Delhi with cascading effects likely across our network,” the post read.
Authorities confirmed that they are monitoring the situation and have taken proactive steps to minimise disruptions.
