Bengaluru: Multiple flights delayed at Kempegowda International Airport due to dense fog

Around 41 flights at Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) have been delayed since 5.30 am on Thursday due to dense fog, an airport spokesperson told ANI.

However, details of the affected flights were not immediately available, as none of the major airlines had shared updates on their social media handles.

It is also unclear how long these delays are.

Radiation fog

Flight delays are common in Bengaluru and in some other Indian cities during winter, and dense fog is often observed between 3 am and 8.30 am, when the ground cools down rapidly, causing the moisture in the air to condense near the surface. This is known as 'radiation fog'.

Radiation fog is typically observed in Bengaluru between November and February, when temperatures dip.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) classifies fog into different types based on general visibility. When visibility falls up to 500m, the IMD classifies it as shallow fog. If visibility falls to 200m, it is known as moderate fog. The third category is dense fog, when visibility is less than 50m.

Earlier, on 11 November, around 21 flights were delayed at the Kempegowda International Airport due to dense fog, when visibility dropped between 50m and 100m at KIA.

“There were more than 15 delays, and six flights diverted, four of them to Chennai, two to Hyderabad, of these two were domestic flights, one was an international flight and another a cargo flight,” BIAL officials had said at the time, adding that the lowest visibility was between 5.08 am and 7.25 am.

Does Kempegowda International Airport have the infrastructure for low-visibility operations?

Although the Kempegowda International Airport has upgraded runways (CAT III-B) to handle low visibility, flight schedules are often disrupted or delayed in the winter months until visibility improves after 9 am.

If you have a flight scheduled between 3 am and 9 am between November and February, it is safe to assume that flights could get delayed due to low visibility conditions disrupting services and airlines' schedules.