Delhi Flight Cancellations: Flight operations continued to be affected due to winter fog, as at least 66 flights were cancelled on Friday due to low visibility conditions. Out of the total cancelled flights, 32 were arrival flights and the remaining 34 were departure flights.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has said that low-visibility conditions will continue to prevail for the next few weeks, from December 10 and continue till February 10. During this period, airlines have to mandatorily deploy pilots trained to operate in low-visibility conditions and follow mandatory CAT-IIIB norms.
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What Are Category-III Norms?
CAT III is a precision instrument approach used for aircraft landings in low-visibility conditions:
- CAT III A: A Category III A approach is a precision instrument approach and landing with no decision height or a decision height lower than 100 ft (30 m) and a runway visual range not less than 700 ft (200 m).
- CAT III B: A Category III B approach is a precision approach and landing with no decision height or a decision height lower than 50 ft (15 m) and a runway visual range less than 700 ft (200 m), but not less than 150 ft (50 m).
- CAT III C: A Category III C approach is a precision approach and landing with no decision height and no runway visual range limitation.
In India, the CAT III B precision approach is used with the Instrument Landing System (ILS).
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GRAP Stage III Removed As AQI Improves
Meanwhile, the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) on Friday lifted Stage III restrictions under the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) in Delhi-NCR after air quality improved from 380, which was in the ‘very poor’ range, to 230, in the ‘poor’ category.