Fog wreaks havoc: flights denied landing permission at Amritsar airport, forced to turn back; several flights cancelled

Chandigarh/Amritsar (The Uttam Hindu): Severe cold conditions continue across North India. While temperatures have dropped sharply in the hilly regions, dense fog has disrupted normal life in the plains. Several districts of Punjab and Chandigarh witnessed heavy fog today, badly affecting air traffic operations. At Amritsar airport, four flights were cancelled, while one flight was cancelled at Chandigarh airport.

The situation turned critical when a passenger flight from Delhi to Amritsar kept circling over the airport for a long time but was eventually forced to return to Delhi after failing to get landing clearance due to poor visibility.

An Air India flight arriving from Mumbai to Amritsar was also denied landing permission by Air Traffic Control (ATC) and was diverted to Jaipur. Similarly, a flight from Dubai was diverted to Delhi. Air India Express flight IX-192, scheduled to arrive in Amritsar from Dubai around 1 am, was also redirected to Delhi.

In addition, a Qatar Airways flight scheduled to depart from Amritsar to Doha at 4:20 am could not take off. Several domestic flights to and from Amritsar, including those connecting Delhi, Srinagar, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Shimla, were delayed due to foggy conditions.

Dense fog also impacted flight operations at Chandigarh airport. A flight arriving from Pune at 5:55 am was delayed. The 7:15 am flight from Jaipur was diverted back to Jaipur, while the 7:30 am flight from Bengaluru was also diverted to Jaipur. The Abu Dhabi flight scheduled to arrive at 7:45 am was delayed.

Meanwhile, the Chandigarh-to-Delhi flight scheduled for 5:45 am was cancelled. The flight to Lucknow, originally scheduled at 5:55 am, finally departed at 7:25 am. All flights scheduled to depart up to 9:00 am were operating with delays due to low visibility.