Delhi’s air quality slipped into the ‘very poor’ category on Tuesday morning as shallow fog continued to disrupt flight operations at Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport, delaying over 200 flights. The situation, though slightly improved from Monday’s severe fog spell, continued to cause inconvenience to thousands of passengers.
According to official data, the 24-hour average Air Quality Index (AQI) stood at 377 at 8 am on Tuesday, improving from 427 recorded on Monday afternoon. On Sunday, Delhi had witnessed an AQI peak of 461 the second worst air quality recorded in December. Meteorologists attributed the marginal improvement to a change in wind direction and an increase in wind speed, which helped reduce fog intensity and disperse pollutants.
Despite visibility improving to around 600 metres on Tuesday morning compared to just 50 metres on Monday flight operations were still affected due to a cascading impact from the previous day. On Monday, very dense fog had forced authorities to halt take-offs for nearly five hours, resulting in more than 800 flight delays, over 220 cancellations and several diversions.
Flight tracking website Flightradar24 reported that by Tuesday morning, 86 arriving flights were delayed and three were cancelled, while 119 departures faced delays. Airlines such as Air India and IndiGo issued advisories, warning passengers of continued disruptions. Air India said dense fog and parking bay constraints led to widespread cancellations, adding that some flights were proactively cancelled based on weather forecasts, with passengers offered full refunds or free rescheduling.
The Delhi airport authorities also acknowledged ongoing recovery from Monday’s chaos, cautioning that disruptions could persist for some time. Meanwhile, foggy conditions were reported in parts of Uttar Pradesh as well, including Bareilly and Lucknow.
Weather experts forecast further improvement during the day as wind speeds are expected to rise up to 25 kmph, which should help clear both fog and pollution levels gradually.
