Fog Chaos: Kolkata Airport Grinds to a Halt

Dense fog caused significant disruptions at Kolkata Airport on Monday, delaying 60 flights as visibility plummeted. Low Visibility Procedures were activated early morning, halting all traffic until conditions improved. Several flights were also diverted to other airports due to the adverse weather conditions.

Dense fog severely disrupted operations at Kolkata Airport on Monday morning, leading to the delay of approximately 60 flights, an airport official confirmed. The visibility plummeted below operational thresholds, triggering Low Visibility Procedures (LVP) that halted air traffic from 7:10 a.m. to 9:00 a.m.

According to Pravat Ranjan Beuria, the Director of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport, both arrivals and departures faced significant delays. The airport's advanced CAT-III B Instrument Landing System (ILS) could not prevent disruptions, as visibility dropped perilously close to zero.

Besides affecting local schedules, the fog forced seven flights destined for Kolkata to be rerouted to alternative airports, such as Bhubaneswar and Hyderabad. Airport authorities made arrangements to assist stranded passengers during the ordeal. Flight operations resumed when visibility improved post-9 a.m.

(With inputs from agencies.)