North India’s annual fog season arrived with a vengeance overnight on 15-16 December, cutting visibility at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGI) to near zero and triggering the cancellation of 228 flights and delays to more than 800 others. Airlines diverted additional aircraft to Jaipur and Ahmedabad, while rail services into the capital were also hit, amplifying the knock-on effect for Monday-morning business travellers.
IndiGo, India’s largest carrier, pulled over 50 rotations system-wide before dawn and issued a rare advisory telling passengers not to head to the airport unless their flight was reconfirmed. Vistara, Air India and SpiceJet followed suit, warning of rolling delays even after conditions improved, citing crew-duty limits and gate congestion.
IGI is equipped with a CAT-III-B instrument-landing system theoretically capable of operating down to 50 metres of runway visual range. In practice, airlines struggled with crew currency requirements, last-minute slot swaps and a cascade of delays across the domestic network. Mobility consultants warn that travellers routed through Delhi risk breaching stay-permit conditions in third countries if onward connections are missed.
![Severe fog cancels 228 flights at Delhi IGI; travel managers urged to build winter buffers]()
For travellers caught in these last-minute itinerary changes, VisaHQ can act as a one-stop solution. Its intuitive portal (https://www.visahq.com/india/) instantly flags any additional visa or transit requirements generated by a diversion, offers real-time status tracking, and can expedite applications under tight deadlines, allowing corporate mobility teams to keep staff compliant even as flight plans shift.
Visa-processing firm VisaHQ advised clients to check whether unexpected rerouting may trigger additional transit-visa needs, especially for executives re-routing via the Gulf or Southeast Asia. The India Meteorological Department has forecast at least two more dense-fog events this week. Corporate travel policies should therefore include six-hour buffers on North-India itineraries, flexible fares and a preference for midday departures when visibility typically improves.
Companies with time-critical projects have been encouraged to route staff through Bengaluru, Hyderabad or Mumbai—airports that recorded normal operations during the fog episode. Travel insurers reminded policy-holders to retain boarding-pass evidence to claim delay compensation mandated under India’s Civil Aviation Passenger Charter.
IndiGo, India’s largest carrier, pulled over 50 rotations system-wide before dawn and issued a rare advisory telling passengers not to head to the airport unless their flight was reconfirmed. Vistara, Air India and SpiceJet followed suit, warning of rolling delays even after conditions improved, citing crew-duty limits and gate congestion.
IGI is equipped with a CAT-III-B instrument-landing system theoretically capable of operating down to 50 metres of runway visual range. In practice, airlines struggled with crew currency requirements, last-minute slot swaps and a cascade of delays across the domestic network. Mobility consultants warn that travellers routed through Delhi risk breaching stay-permit conditions in third countries if onward connections are missed.
For travellers caught in these last-minute itinerary changes, VisaHQ can act as a one-stop solution. Its intuitive portal (https://www.visahq.com/india/) instantly flags any additional visa or transit requirements generated by a diversion, offers real-time status tracking, and can expedite applications under tight deadlines, allowing corporate mobility teams to keep staff compliant even as flight plans shift.
Visa-processing firm VisaHQ advised clients to check whether unexpected rerouting may trigger additional transit-visa needs, especially for executives re-routing via the Gulf or Southeast Asia. The India Meteorological Department has forecast at least two more dense-fog events this week. Corporate travel policies should therefore include six-hour buffers on North-India itineraries, flexible fares and a preference for midday departures when visibility typically improves.
Companies with time-critical projects have been encouraged to route staff through Bengaluru, Hyderabad or Mumbai—airports that recorded normal operations during the fog episode. Travel insurers reminded policy-holders to retain boarding-pass evidence to claim delay compensation mandated under India’s Civil Aviation Passenger Charter.
