Flights Disrupted In Lucknow Amid Dense Fog, Airport Blames It On Pilots

Lucknow airport spokesperson said there was no visibility problem but flights that did not have CAT-C certified pilots faced landing problems.

Lucknow:In view of dense fog, flight operations were affected at the Chaudhary Charan Singh International Airport in Uttar Pradesh's Lucknow district with several to and fro flights delayed by few hours and one diverted, leaving passengers in a lot of trouble. Airport spokesperson said flights that faced problems in landing were not due to fog but because pilots lacked specialised training.

Saudi Arabian Airlines (known as Saudi) from Jeddah reached Lucknow airport at 4:22 am instead of its scheduled arrival at 12:30 am. Another flight from Dammam was diverted to Nagpur after it failed to land at Lucknow airport. This flight reached Lucknow at 5:30 am but could not land due to poor visibility. The Air Traffic Control (ATC) did not give clearance to land at Lucknow airport following which, it kept circling the airport for sometime before it was diverted to Nagpur, where it finally landed.

Also, Saudia flight from Lucknow to Jeddah managed to depart at 6:32 am instead of 2:00 am. Similarly, Saudi Flynas airline from Lucknow to Dammam could take off at 1 pm instead of 6:30 am.

IndiGo flight from Lucknow to Ahmedabad took off at 7:07 am instead of 6:40 am and the flight could take off at 8:29 am instead of 7:45 am. Air India Express flight to Ras Al-Khaimah took off at 8:08 am instead of 7:55 am while IndiGo flight to Mumbai took off at 8:24 am instead of 8:00 am.

Spokesperson of Chaudhary Charan Singh International Airport said there is no visibility problem at Lucknow airport. "The flight was diverted because the flight did not have a pilot with CAT-C certificate. All flights landed on time but planes that did not have CAT-C certified pilots faced problems in landing.