A blanket of dense fog descended on Delhi, Lucknow and other northern hubs overnight on 24–25 December, driving runway visibility at Indira Gandhi International Airport to as low as 50 metres and triggering low-visibility procedures across the region. By mid-morning on Christmas Day, flight-tracking portal FlightRadar24 showed 550 delays and 10 outright cancellations, according to aggregated data cited by VisaHQ.
Air India, Vistara and IndiGo activated ‘fog contingency’ rosters: CAT-III-equipped aircraft were repositioned to Delhi, while crew schedules were tweaked to comply with flight-duty limits. Despite the measures, average departure delays topped 30 minutes and some inbound long-hauls from Europe were forced into airborne holding patterns exceeding 45 minutes, burning precious fuel reserves and unsettling holiday schedules.
![Dense Fog Grounds 550 Flights Across North India, IMD Extends Yellow Alert]()
The India Meteorological Department extended its “yellow” fog alert through 28 December, warning of very dense fog (<50 metres) on 26 December. Business-travel consultants advise corporates to re-route non-urgent staff movement via southern gateways like Hyderabad or Bengaluru, which remain fog-free, and to book flexi fares that permit no-penalty date changes. International assignees should keep buffer nights in Delhi before onward domestic legs to manufacturing sites in Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Rajasthan.
The fog disruption coincides with a seasonal surge in charter flights for inbound wedding guests and medical tourists. Immigration counters at Delhi’s T3 reported queuing times of up to 70 minutes during peak arrival banks—a reminder that visa-on-arrival travellers and Trusted-Traveller (FTI-TTP) enrollees should factor in extra processing time even with e-gate access.
Air India, Vistara and IndiGo activated ‘fog contingency’ rosters: CAT-III-equipped aircraft were repositioned to Delhi, while crew schedules were tweaked to comply with flight-duty limits. Despite the measures, average departure delays topped 30 minutes and some inbound long-hauls from Europe were forced into airborne holding patterns exceeding 45 minutes, burning precious fuel reserves and unsettling holiday schedules.
The India Meteorological Department extended its “yellow” fog alert through 28 December, warning of very dense fog (<50 metres) on 26 December. Business-travel consultants advise corporates to re-route non-urgent staff movement via southern gateways like Hyderabad or Bengaluru, which remain fog-free, and to book flexi fares that permit no-penalty date changes. International assignees should keep buffer nights in Delhi before onward domestic legs to manufacturing sites in Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Rajasthan.
The fog disruption coincides with a seasonal surge in charter flights for inbound wedding guests and medical tourists. Immigration counters at Delhi’s T3 reported queuing times of up to 70 minutes during peak arrival banks—a reminder that visa-on-arrival travellers and Trusted-Traveller (FTI-TTP) enrollees should factor in extra processing time even with e-gate access.
Source: VisaHQ Global Mobility News
