NEW DELHI: Delhiites woke as much as winter’s first dense fog on Monday, with visibility dropping to zero within the metropolis. There was havoc at Delhi airport as departures remained suspended for almost 5 hours from 4am to 9am when visibility was under 100m.As many as 228 flights – 131 departures, 97 arrivals – have been cancelled, over 800 delayed and 5 diverted to different airports, officers stated. The ripple impact of delays continued lengthy after the fog cleared round midday. At the least 100 trains have been operating late.Safdarjung information zero visibility at 12.30am, issues search for after 9amThe civil aviation ministry stated dense fog situations impacted flight operations at a number of airports in north India.In keeping with India Meteorological Division, visibility started to dip sharply from Sunday evening. “It dropped to 150 meters at 11.30pm. By 12.30am Monday, there was zero visibility at Safdarjung, town’s base station. This continued until 2am and improved marginally to 100m by 2.30am. At Palam, the bottom visibility recorded was 50m at 4am,” an official stated.Visibility began bettering after 9am, touching 300m at Safdarjung by 9.30am and 700m by 10.30am, with the solar making an look. At Palam, visibility improved from 100m at 9am to 300m by 10.30am, and to 500m by midday.Flight operations have been severely impacted at IGI Airport from 4am, when visibility dropped to 50m and low-visibility procedures have been initiated. In keeping with dwell flight monitoring web site Flightradar24, 260 arrivals and 400 departures have been delayed until Monday night. “Some flights arrived late at IGI on account of climate situations on the origin airport. Since they got here late, these flights departed late,” stated an airport official.Airport officers stated pilots who’re educated in CAT III procedures could make an plane land with a minimal visibility of 50m, whereas an plane can take off at a minimal visibility of 125m. “Nonetheless, pilots who are usually not educated in CAT-III procedures wait on the taxiway in any case formalities comparable to boarding are accomplished and take off once they get clearance as they want visibility of round 500m. This causes main flight delays,” an airport official stated earlier.Other than Delhi, flight operations have been hit in lots of elements of north India. The civil aviation ministry posted onIndiGo, in a press release, stated low visibility (under minima), on account of dense fog, severely impacted operations at Delhi and different airports in northern India, “which is sadly past our management”. “Whereas operations modify to the prevailing climate, some flights could expertise delays whereas a number of others could also be proactively canceled by way of the day to prioritize security and assist decrease prolonged ready on the airport,” stated IndiGo.Air India stated poor visibility on account of dense fog hit operations of all airways. “Within the curiosity of security and to keep away from extended uncertainty, some flights have been cancelled,” it stated on X.The civil aviation ministry stated, “The Director Normal Civil Aviation has reviewed preparedness for fog situations. Officers ought to monitor passenger inconvenience and be certain that airways are facilitating operations and discharging tasks as per their respective SOPs and any instructions issued.”