The Aryavarth Express
New Delhi:
Ten flights were cancelled at Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport on Wednesday morning as dense fog and poor visibility continued to disrupt air traffic, airport authorities said.
Flight operations were also affected at Chennai International Airport, where 11 flights were cancelled due to adverse weather conditions in Delhi and other northern states. According to officials, four departing and seven arriving flights at IGI Airport were cancelled during the day.
Authorities attributed the disruptions to persistent dense fog, poor weather, and high levels of air pollution across Delhi and several northern regions over the past few days. “Flight services in Delhi and other northern states have been severely impacted due to dense fog and adverse weather conditions. Several flights bound for Delhi were unable to land and were diverted to other airports,” an official statement said.
As a result, air services between Chennai and northern cities were also disrupted. On Wednesday, four outbound flights from Chennai to Delhi, Jaipur, Kolkata, and Ghaziabad were cancelled. Additionally, seven incoming flights to Chennai from cities including Delhi, Jaipur, Patna, Pune, Kolkata, and Indore were also called off.
The cancellation of 11 flights in a single day caused significant inconvenience to passengers.
Meanwhile, Delhi recorded a slight improvement in air quality on Wednesday morning. The overall Air Quality Index (AQI) stood at 328 at around 8 am, remaining in the ‘very poor’ category, according to data from the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). This marked a marginal improvement from Tuesday, when the AQI was recorded at 354 at 4 pm.
Despite the improvement, large parts of the capital continued to remain under a blanket of toxic smog, with air quality still posing serious health concerns.
According to CPCB standards, an AQI of 0–50 is classified as ‘good’, 51–100 ‘satisfactory’, 101–200 ‘moderate’, 201–300 ‘poor’, 301–400 ‘very poor’, and 401–500 ‘severe’.
