496 flights cancelled, 8,038 flights delayed in January due to fog: govt

As many as 496 flights were cancelled and 8,038 flights were delayed due to dense fog in January, the civil aviation ministry said on Thursday.

In a written reply to Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Civil Aviation V K Singh said DGCA conducts meeting for preparedness of fog/low visibility operations for smooth flight operations with all stakeholders before commencement of the fog period and also issues instructions.

Besides, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has issued regulations mandating operators to ensure that all flight crew members should be qualified for take-off, instrument approaches and operations to the lowest CAT-I/II/III minima as applicable, the minister said.

CAT-III pertains to operating flights in low visibility conditions.

To a query on whether a large number of domestic and international flights were delayed due to dense fog in the current winter season, Singh replied in the affirmative.

"The total number of flights delayed and cancelled during January 2024 is 8,038 and 496, respectively," he said in a written reply.

According to Singh, the number of pilots trained for CAT-III operations has increased 16 per cent vis-a-vis the total as of October 2023.

As of December 2023, there were 6,191 CAT-III trained pilots, including 3,744 commanders and 2,447 co-pilots, the minister added.