The worst affected were passengers of a Bangalore-bound SpiceJet flight, who spent seven hours waiting inside the aircraft.

Flight SG-501 was scheduled to depart at 7 am on Saturday, but could take off only at 1.30 pm. Initially, fog kept the flight grounded. However, even after improved visibility the heavy backlog of flights kept the aircraft from taking off. Later, a technical snag detected by the pilot held the flight back.

The passengers had already boarded the flight when a sudden spell of dense fog brought the visibility to less than 50 metres at about 6:30 am. The fog caused Low Visibility Procedures (LVP) to be implemented at the airport at 5.55 am, which lasted till 10.20 am.

Around 91 flights operated during this time, including 74 domestic and 17 international flights. “Around 60 flights operated using CAT I, 6 used CAT II, four used CAT IIIA and 21 operated using the CAT IIIB landing system,” an airport official said.

Five flights (one domestic and four International) had to be diverted to destinations like Jaipur and Mumbai, while 37 flights (34 domestic and three international departures) had to rescheduled.