Thick winter fog blanketed large swathes of northern and central India in the early hours of 2 January 2026, forcing IndiGo, Air India and SpiceJet to cancel or delay dozens of domestic and international services. The hardest-hit airports were Delhi, Varanasi, Udaipur, Guwahati and Hyderabad, where runway visual range plunged below the minimum required for CAT-I operations, triggering automatic flow-control by Air Traffic Control and Ground Control.
IndiGo—the country’s largest carrier—pre-emptively scrubbed several dawn departures after meteorological models predicted visibility below 125 metres. The airline pushed real-time updates through its “Plan B” self-re-accommodation tool, allowing passengers to rebook or obtain full refunds at no extra cost. SpiceJet and Air India issued similar advisories on X (formerly Twitter), warning of knock-on delays across their networks and offering free date changes.
![Dense fog grounds flights across North and Central India, airlines activate ‘FogCare’ waivers]()
Air India re-activated its ‘FogCare’ policy, first introduced in 2024, which sends automatic SMS/e-mail alerts to booked passengers whenever visibility at Delhi drops below 400 metres. Eligible travellers can opt for a no-penalty cancellation or a same-class rebooking within seven days—a feature that corporate mobility managers have integrated into their duty-of-care dashboards.
Airport operators said that CAT-III-B runways at Delhi and Lucknow remained open, but many narrow-body aircraft and crew are not certified for low-visibility autoland. As a result, flights were re-sequenced, leading to average departure delays of 45–90 minutes and missed onward connections. Supply-chain managers were advised to factor in an extra travel buffer for expatriate engineers and project teams transiting through Delhi or Hyderabad this week.
With the fog season expected to last until mid-February, airlines have urged passengers to build flexibility into itineraries, monitor flight status apps and consider afternoon departures where possible. For time-critical business trips, travel managers are recommending the use of full-service carriers with through-check options and larger spare-crew pools.
IndiGo—the country’s largest carrier—pre-emptively scrubbed several dawn departures after meteorological models predicted visibility below 125 metres. The airline pushed real-time updates through its “Plan B” self-re-accommodation tool, allowing passengers to rebook or obtain full refunds at no extra cost. SpiceJet and Air India issued similar advisories on X (formerly Twitter), warning of knock-on delays across their networks and offering free date changes.
Air India re-activated its ‘FogCare’ policy, first introduced in 2024, which sends automatic SMS/e-mail alerts to booked passengers whenever visibility at Delhi drops below 400 metres. Eligible travellers can opt for a no-penalty cancellation or a same-class rebooking within seven days—a feature that corporate mobility managers have integrated into their duty-of-care dashboards.
Airport operators said that CAT-III-B runways at Delhi and Lucknow remained open, but many narrow-body aircraft and crew are not certified for low-visibility autoland. As a result, flights were re-sequenced, leading to average departure delays of 45–90 minutes and missed onward connections. Supply-chain managers were advised to factor in an extra travel buffer for expatriate engineers and project teams transiting through Delhi or Hyderabad this week.
With the fog season expected to last until mid-February, airlines have urged passengers to build flexibility into itineraries, monitor flight status apps and consider afternoon departures where possible. For time-critical business trips, travel managers are recommending the use of full-service carriers with through-check options and larger spare-crew pools.
Source: The Financial Express
