CHENNAI: A thick smog cover that engulfed the city on Monday morning paralysed air operations and caused flight delays of up to seven hours. While the northern part of the city was somewhat spared with the fog lifting gradually by 7.30 am, the area surrounding the Meenambakkam Airport remained under the white blanket until past 9 am. The smog was so thick that even an airport spokesperson termed it ‘unusual’ and said it was ‘unprecedented in February’.An official with the Regional Meteorological Centre’s (RMC) weather station in Meenambakkam confirmed that visibility was down to “almost 100 metres” around the airport, when the smog peaked. When contacted, the RMC Director said it was not an “extremely unusual” phenomenon and was probably caused by humidity variance and clear skies. Meanwhile, flight operations were suspended between 4.15 am and 9.30 am. As many as 15 incoming flights were diverted and nearly 30 departures were pushed back indefinitely, in what turned out to be a chaotic morning.While flights from Europe and East Asia were lucky to land until 3 am, those from the Middle East had to be diverted to Bangalore, Hyderabad and Thiruvananthapuram.Stranded travellers, mostly those headed home after the weekend, and businessmen, were an agitated lot and were cramped for space in the terminal. The fog that took the city by surprise was not limited to hampering air traffic alone. Even train commuters and motorists felt the strain, as traffic was affected by poor visibility until 8.30 am.
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