Smog: 3 flights diverted to Chandigarh
Low visibility due to dense smog after Diwali severely impacted flight operations at Shri Guru Ram Das Jee International Airport here as three flights — one international and two domestic — were diverted to Chandigarh due to poor visibility this morning.
The AQI of Amritsar was 325 on Saturday morning, which falls in ‘very poor’ category. Dense fog hit the visibility on the runway too.
A flight from Dubai, initially scheduled to land at 7:40 am, and domestic flights from Mumbai and Hyderabad, operated by Vistara, scheduled to land at 7:55 am and 11:15 am, respectively, were diverted to the capital.
Airport director Sanjeev Agarwal said, “The runway visual range (RVR) did not match the requirements of pilots. The visibility improved by 12 noon and all diverted flights returned to the airport by 1.20 pm following which the flight operations are normal.”
Passengers faced inconvenience due to the sudden diversion of their flights to Chandigarh. Airline officials claimed that they provided necessary services to passengers at the Chandigarh airport, arranging further travel for affected passengers. However, passengers expressed frustration over the last-minute diversion.
Airport officials claimed that the ongoing pollution crisis might continue to affect air traffic in Amritsar. Even as the airport is equipped with the CAT-III system for landing and take-off of aircraft in low visibility, the pilots needed runway visual range as per their set criteria, said Agarwal. Severe air pollution due to bursting of firecrackers on Diwali, stubble burning and weather conditions made landing at the Amritsar airport a significant challenge, he added.
