After experiencing three days of consecutive severe air pollution, the air quality of Delhi slightly improved to the very poor category on Tuesday as the strength of the fogs across the entire national capital subsided as the wind velocity increased. Although the weather was much better than it was on Monday, when it was exceedingly dense with fog, there was shallow fog on Tuesday which was still disrupting flight operations in the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport.
The official data revealed that the 24-hour average Air Quality Index (AQI) was 377 at 8 am on Tuesday in comparison to the 427 at 4 pm on Monday. The pollution level had reached the highest levels of 461 on Sunday, which was the second-poorest day of air quality that was recorded in Delhi in the month of December. Although there was a slight improvement, the air quality still was not healthy, which concerned people and officials.
The aviation activities were still strained due to the continuity of the disruptions in form of mists incurred on Monday. On Tuesday, over 300 flights were delayed, at least 126 flights were cancelled, most of which were cancelled in advance by the airlines expecting to face more weather-induced difficulties. Monday was particularly hard hit where there had been a miserable fog and takeoffs were halted almost five hours causing more than 800 flight delays, 220 cancellations, and five diversions.
According to Flightradar24 flight tracking platform, there were 86 flights that were delayed and three were cancelled on Tuesday and 119 delayed departures without cancellations. A delayed flight is one whose departure or arrival is over 15 minutes late.
Air India in a statement made at about midnight on Monday blamed the massive delays and cancellations on the thick fog conditions, which also preconditioned a lack of parking bays on the airport. The airline claimed that the disruption was felt throughout the network. According to the projections made by the India Meteorological Department (IMD) of the same weather conditions on Tuesday, Air India preemptively canceled some of its flights.
Join our whatsapp group for Latest updates
Click Here for Chhattisgarh News
Click Here for Entertainment News