Chennai: Several international and domestic flights were diverted and some were delayed at Chennai International Airport, as runway visibility dropped in the early hours on Sunday. Weather experts said that the condition will continue for the next two days, albeit with reduced intensity.At least three international flights and four domestic flights that were to arrive at Chennai were diverted to Trichy, Bengaluru and Coimbatore as the runway visibility reduced to 150m at the airport.
An IndiGo flight from Kuala Lumpur, which was scheduled to arrive at 7am, was diverted to Bengaluru, whereas an AirAsia flight from Kuala Lumpur, which was to arrive at 7.26am, was diverted to Trichy. An Emirates Airlines flight from Dubai was diverted to Bengaluru.An IndiGo flight from Mumbai, which was scheduled to arrive at 6.35am, was diverted to Bengaluru, while another flight that was to arrive from Pune at 7.10am was diverted to Coimbatore. An Air India Express flight that was scheduled to reach Chennai at 7.15am returned to Bengaluru after getting airborne, after receiving information about the poor visibility at Chennai airport. Another IndiGo flight from Hyderabad was diverted to Tirupati.Departing flights operated as per low-visibility procedures. Some flights, such as Sri Lankan Airlines, resorted to delayed departure.Officials said that the visibility started reducing at 3.30am. From 1,500m visibility at 5.30am, it drastically came down to 150m at 7.30am. IMD attributed this to a combination of factors, including high humidity, light winds, and lower night-time temperature.V R Durai, director of the Regional Weather Forecasting Centre, said that the fog TN witnesses is called radiation fog—it is unlike fog in the north. “It forms due to temperature inversion. Due to clear skies over the last few days, the heat radiation from the earth’s surface is high. So, temperature loss will also be more, which results in colder weather at the ground level and higher temperature at 30ft to 100ft above ground level. The heat condenses the atmospheric vapour, leading to fog,” the scientist said.IMD officials said that the city will experience light to moderate fog on Monday, and that it is expected to reduce further on Tuesday.
