Dense Fog Grounds Flights at Delhi Airport: Over 250 Delays, 22 Cancellations, Airlines Issue Advisories

Severe winter fog blanketed North India on 18 December, plunging visibility at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport (DEL) to under 50 metres and triggering CAT-III low-visibility procedures. Airport operator DIAL confirmed 22 outright cancellations—16 departures and 6 arrivals—while data from flight-tracking platforms showed more than 250 delays throughout the day. Domestic hubs in Lucknow, Amritsar and Jaipur reported knock-on disruptions as aircraft and crews missed rotation windows.

National carrier Air India and budget airline SpiceJet posted repeated alerts on X (formerly Twitter) warning passengers to check flight status before leaving for the airport. Airport lounges were packed well beyond capacity, and hotels along the Aerocity strip reported 90 per cent occupancy as stranded travellers booked last-minute rooms.



While most international wide-body flights are CAT-III-equipped, turnaround delays cascaded into missed connecting flights for onward journeys to Europe, North America and Southeast Asia. Freight forwarders said time-sensitive pharma shipments faced hold-overs, prompting contingency trucking to Hyderabad for late-evening departures.

The India Meteorological Department predicts another dense fog band in the early hours of 19 December. Mobility managers should pre-book hotel blocks, arrange guaranteed ground transport and consider routing executives through Mumbai or Bengaluru until conditions normalise. Travellers eligible for the Fast-Track Immigration Trusted Traveller e-gates at DEL can still use them once flights land, but arrivals should anticipate longer waits at baggage reclaim as ramp operations slow under low visibility.