On Thursday morning, Bengaluru’s Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) experienced significant disruptions as dense fog caused a sharp drop in visibility, leading to the delay of eight flights. The fog, which reduced visibility to as low as 50 meters, lasted between 5:19 am and 7:40 am, affecting both domestic and international flight operations.
As a result, eight flights were delayed by more than 15 minutes. This included two international flights bound for Phuket and Dubai, as well as several domestic flights to cities such as Chennai, Goa, Pune, and Nagpur. The fog significantly impacted the airport’s ability to maintain its normal operations, leading to the delays.
Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL) officials confirmed that the reduced visibility created challenges for air traffic control and flight handling. While KIA’s south runway was upgraded in December 2020 to support Category III Bravo (CAT-IIIB) operations, which allows aircraft to land in low-visibility conditions, the north runway is still a Category I (CAT-I) runway. This means it can only accommodate operations under conditions of higher visibility, necessitating the use of the south runway for landings in such weather.
Upgrading the north runway to CAT-IIIB standards is in progress, which will improve the airport’s ability to handle low-visibility situations in the future. However, in the meantime, such weather conditions continue to lead to delays, affecting flight schedules and passenger convenience.
Passengers were advised to check with their airlines for updates regarding flight statuses. The dense fog is part of the seasonal weather pattern, which often impacts air travel in various parts of India during the winter months, especially in regions like Bengaluru. With the ongoing improvements at KIA, the airport hopes to reduce such disruptions in the future, ensuring smoother operations even under challenging weather conditions.
