Chennai: A thick swathe of smog triggered by Bhogi bon fires on Thursday morning threw a boomer ang at flight schedules at Chennai airport. Three flights, including an Oman Air aircraft from Muscat, were diverted to Bengaluru and 23 arrivals and 29 departures were delayed by an hour after visibility dipped to 250m at 8am. It took two hours for operations to get back to a semblance of normalcy .The delays had a knock-on effect through the day at various airports, said an airport official.
Traditional bonfires that were lit up during Pongal festival in several neighbourhooods also caused traffic snarls in many areas. Awareness campaign against the practice was not carried out this year. "Pre-dawn arrivals and departures suffered only minor delays. But many flights were delayed after 7.30am. As visibility fluctuated, flights were told to be on hold.Planes flew in circles at four spots outside the city before they were allowed to land," said an airport official. Runway visibility was 400m, but flights require visibility of 500m to land.
A Muscat-Chennai Oman Air flight, a Delhi-Chennai IndiGo Airlines flight and a ThiruvananthapuramChennai Air India were diverted to Bengaluru.
15/01/16 V Ayyappan/Times of India
To Read the News in full at Source, Click the Headline
Traditional bonfires that were lit up during Pongal festival in several neighbourhooods also caused traffic snarls in many areas. Awareness campaign against the practice was not carried out this year. "Pre-dawn arrivals and departures suffered only minor delays. But many flights were delayed after 7.30am. As visibility fluctuated, flights were told to be on hold.Planes flew in circles at four spots outside the city before they were allowed to land," said an airport official. Runway visibility was 400m, but flights require visibility of 500m to land.
A Muscat-Chennai Oman Air flight, a Delhi-Chennai IndiGo Airlines flight and a ThiruvananthapuramChennai Air India were diverted to Bengaluru.
15/01/16 V Ayyappan/Times of India
