POOR VISIBILITY HITS FLIGHTS, 22 CANCELLED, 40 DIVERTED

NEW DELHI: Hundreds of flyers were left stranded at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport on Sunday after many as 22 flights had to be cancelled and more than 40 incoming flights approaching Delhi airport were diverted, as the visibility dropped to as low as 400 metres because of the increased pollution levels in the Capital. At least 250 scheduled flights were also delayed due the to low visibility. Many passengers took to social media, sharing photographs of pollution and the poor visibility at the airport.

According to officials from the airport, visibility remained low at the airport from 9am to 1pm. Incoming flights had to be diverted to airports at Jaipur, Amritsar and Lucknow. Visibility around 8.30am was recorded to be 400m, improving to 600m by 2.30pm and then to 900m by 5.30pm, said an official who did not wish to be named.

An official from the airport operator, Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL), said additional staff was deployed to assist passengers, and flight details were updated from time-to-time, to minimise the inconvenience caused to those stranded at the terminals. A passenger wrote on Twitter, “I had a tough time today. I was at the Delhi airport.my flight to Mumbai was delayed by 4 hours and 45 minutes due to low visibility. I could smell smoke inside the airport too.”

Others complained of lack of facilities at the airport and said the airport terminal looked like a smoking room.