NEW DELHI: Fog made a rather early appearence in Delhi this season, severely hampering operations during the low visibility hours. However, Delhi International Airport (P) Ltd (DIAL) claims that when the fog reappears in December, as had earlier been predicted, they will be more than ready to handle the situation.

This year, the Met department has said that the number of fog days could be more than they were last year. It will be using more sophisticated ways of predicting fog and disseminating information to the concerned agencies.

The only contentious issue seems to be, yet again, the new runway. While DIAL and the Airports Authority of India (AAI) say that both the new and main runways are ready for CAT operations, airlines and air traffic control (ATC) officials said that they would have preferred if only the main runway was used during thick fog. DIAL has submitted a proposal to the directorate general of civil aviation asking for the new runway to be used exclusively for landing and the main runway for take-offs. The proposal is yet to be cleared.

However, according to sources, since aircraft would have to cross the active main runway to access the new runway, ATC officials did not want the new runway to be brought into use during very low visibility. "In thick fog, normally only the main runway is visible to the ATC. They would not want to take a chance with aircraft crossing active runways when they are dependent only on instruments to help them,'' said an official.

Sources also added that during CAT-III visibility, very few flights actually operated because of which the new runway might not be needed at all. "The new runway will actually help in dealing with the congestion when the fog clears,'' added the official.

Most airlines, with the major exception of Spice Jet, claimed to be ready with their CAT trained pilots and aircraft. DIAL has also increased the number of CAT compliant bays to 55. More parking space at both the domestic and international terminals, increased seating area, including a new area next to the arrival terminal for meeters and greeters has been readied. Flight information will be available to passengers online. In case of delays longer than two hours, passengers will also be served refreshments by the respective airlines.