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Bloomberg

Dense smog blanketing India’s capital has caused travel chaos and long flight delays, leaving many passengers angry and frustrated.
IndiGo, the country’s biggest airline that operates more than 2,000 daily flights, has been the worst affected. On Monday, 78 per cent of the airline’s flights – known for their punctuality – were delayed, according to data from the Ministry of Civil Aviation.
Almost four-fifths of Air India’s flights failed to arrive or depart on time on Saturday.
Tempers have boiled over. After a 13-hour delay, one frustrated passenger assaulted an IndiGo pilot in a video circulating widely on social media since Monday.












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“The passenger hit the pilot while he was announcing the flight delay around 1pm,” a Delhi police spokesperson said.
In another incident, travellers en route from Delhi to Goa were seen apparently sitting on the airport’s tarmac having dinner near a plane after their flight was diverted to Mumbai.
The flight chaos is yet another impact of northern India’s toxic air, which heightens in the cool and often foggy winter months as farmers burn rice stubble from their fields.

Deemed “severe” around New Delhi on Tuesday by the Central Pollution Control Board, the annual smog has been flagged for years as a major public-health catastrophe, though little coordinated action has been taken by authorities to clear up the foul atmosphere.
The country’s civil aviation ministry said in a statement on Tuesday that it issued notices to IndiGo and Mumbai’s airport for failing to follow security procedures and report the incident. If they didn’t respond on Tuesday, the ministry said it would impose financial penalties.
‘Really bad’: toxic smog chokes India’s Delhi amid fears of health disaster
The aircraft was parked on a remote bay that “added to passenger woes and deprived them the opportunity to avail basic facilities like restrooms and refreshments at the terminal”, according to the ministry.
“Passengers were irate and rushed out of the aircraft as soon as the stepladder was connected,” Mumbai airport said in a statement. The passengers were cordoned off and kept under “strict watch” in a “safety zone” as they refused to go by bus to the terminal building, according to the airport.

Rooms would be set up at busy metro airports to address issues related to passenger inconvenience, Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said Tuesday in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter. Airports would be required to report incidents three times a day, Scindia said.
IndiGo said it had initiated an inquiry and would respond to the notice. Air India did not immediately respond to a request for comment on its delays.
The country’s aviation regulator on Monday said airlines should cancel flights in advance if they expected delays to stretch more than three hours, in order to prevent airport congestion.
Airlines were also asked to give real-time updates about delays through text messages or emails, and to sensitise staff so they could properly guide travellers during disruptions.


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India

Tempers flare, pilot assaulted as ‘severe’ India smog sparks travel chaos in Delhi

An aircraft prepares to take off amid dense fog at Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi. File photo: AFP 

A man walks with his luggage cart amid heavy fog at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi on December 27, 2023. Photo: Reuters 

An aircraft of Air India at Mumbai airport in February 2023. Almost four-fifths of Air India’s flights failed to arrive or depart on time on Saturday. Photo: Bloomberg

India’s New Delhi choked by toxic smog again, as fears of respiratory health disaster grow

People and vehicles are seen on a road amid the morning smog in New Delhi, India, on Wednesday. Photo: Reuters

Parts of New Delhi covered with heavy smog on Tuesday. Photo: EPA-EFE

A woman with a face mask and other people walk amid the morning smog in New Delhi, India, on Wednesday. Photo: Reuters

A cyclist rides amid smog in New Delhi, India, on Tuesday. Photo: AP

India’s polluted Mumbai, behind only China’s Beijing in poor air quality, issues new construction rules to combat smog

Buildings shrouded in smog in Mumbai in 2018. The Indian capital was the second most polluted city in the world on Monday. Photo: Xinhua

India’s smog is now so bad, motorcyclists can buy ‘air-purifying’ helmets in New Delhi

A Shellios Technolabs employee models the company’s ‘air-purifying’ motorcycle helmet. Photo: Reuters

India’s capital New Delhi wakes to toxic smog after Diwali fireworks

A couple poses during a pre-wedding photo shoot near India's Presidential Palace in New Delhi, which is shrouded in smog after Diwali. Photo: Reuters

Commuters make their way along a street amid smoggy conditions in New Delhi on November 5, 2021. (Photo by Prakash SINGH / AFP)

In India, can New Delhi’s smog towers reduce pollution? Experts say they’re more hot air than clean air

Pedestrians walk along New Delhi’s Rajpath boulevard in November 2019 as the India Gate monument stands shrouded in smog. Photo: Bloomberg

Smog tower in Lajpat Nagar market, New Delhi. Photo: Handout

An Indian walks up to the stairs as Delhi's sky line is seen enveloped in smog and dust in New Delhi, India, Friday, Nov. 1, 2019. An expert panel in India's capital has declared a health emergency due to air pollution choking the city, with authorities ordering schools closed until Nov. 5. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

FILE PHOTO: A protestor holds a placard in front of the India Gate during a protest demanding government to take immediate steps to control air pollution in New Delhi, India, November 5, 2019. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi/File Photo

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Asia

South Asia

Most of the flights from the country’s airlines IndiGo and Air India were delayed, failed to arrive or depart on time, leaving passengers angry and frustrated
Lack of basic facilities to accommodate delays meant that some travellers were seen having dinner on the Mumbai airport tarmac after their flight was diverted


Most of the flights from the country’s airlines IndiGo and Air India were delayed, failed to arrive or depart on time, leaving passengers angry and frustrated.


Aviation

Asia travel

Climate change