Flyers face lengthy waits as many flights grounded at airport
Patna: Wrapped in jackets and anxiously checking their flight status, passengers at Jay Prakash Narayan International Airport faced long delays on Thursday as dense fog enveloped Patna, severely affecting flight operations. Poor visibility forced airlines to reschedule departures and arrivals, leaving flyers frustrated and anxious.
According to the duty officer at the Patna meteorological office, visibility dropped to just 100m at 6.30 am, gradually improving to 350m by the time the first scheduled flights began arriving. The first flight of the day, Air India from Delhi, touched down around 11.15am, over an hour and a half behind its scheduled arrival of 9.40am. Visibility eventually peaked at 1,000m between 530pm and 7pm, slightly dipping to 900m by 8pm.
“The runway visual range (RVR) allows aircraft to land at 1,000m and take off at 800m. When the first flight landed, the RVR was 1,100m,” said officials from the Airports Authority of India at Patna airport.
Delays for incoming flights caused a cascading impact on departures. Around 18 flights arriving at Patna were delayed, while 22 outgoing services ran behind schedule. Five IndiGo flights to major cities including Kolkata, Hyderabad, Delhi, Mumbai, and Bengaluru were cancelled due to operational constraints.
Rajan Singh, a passenger, expressed his frustration and said, “The airline is not ready to improve services on the pretext of fog and bad weather. While other airlines are on time, why is IndiGo hiding its failure to be punctual? I am waiting for my flight to Delhi, which is already two hours late.”
Airlines urged passengers to monitor flight updates before leaving for the airport. IndiGo said, “Low visibility and fog over Patna may impact flight schedules. We are closely monitoring the weather and doing our best to get flyers where they need to be, safely and smoothly. We request that flyers stay updated on our flight status.”
SpiceJet also warned, “Due to bad weather in Patna (PAT), all departures/arrivals and their consequential flights may be affected.”
The dense fog is expected to continue over the coming days, prompting flyers to plan travel carefully and check schedules regularly to avoid extended waits at the airport.
According to the duty officer at the Patna meteorological office, visibility dropped to just 100m at 6.30 am, gradually improving to 350m by the time the first scheduled flights began arriving. The first flight of the day, Air India from Delhi, touched down around 11.15am, over an hour and a half behind its scheduled arrival of 9.40am. Visibility eventually peaked at 1,000m between 530pm and 7pm, slightly dipping to 900m by 8pm.
“The runway visual range (RVR) allows aircraft to land at 1,000m and take off at 800m. When the first flight landed, the RVR was 1,100m,” said officials from the Airports Authority of India at Patna airport.
Delays for incoming flights caused a cascading impact on departures. Around 18 flights arriving at Patna were delayed, while 22 outgoing services ran behind schedule. Five IndiGo flights to major cities including Kolkata, Hyderabad, Delhi, Mumbai, and Bengaluru were cancelled due to operational constraints.
Rajan Singh, a passenger, expressed his frustration and said, “The airline is not ready to improve services on the pretext of fog and bad weather. While other airlines are on time, why is IndiGo hiding its failure to be punctual? I am waiting for my flight to Delhi, which is already two hours late.”
Airlines urged passengers to monitor flight updates before leaving for the airport. IndiGo said, “Low visibility and fog over Patna may impact flight schedules. We are closely monitoring the weather and doing our best to get flyers where they need to be, safely and smoothly. We request that flyers stay updated on our flight status.”
SpiceJet also warned, “Due to bad weather in Patna (PAT), all departures/arrivals and their consequential flights may be affected.”
The dense fog is expected to continue over the coming days, prompting flyers to plan travel carefully and check schedules regularly to avoid extended waits at the airport.
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