KOLKATA: Poor visibility condition that was triggered by nonseasonal fog caused delay in the departure of five domestic flights from Kolkata's Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport on Thursday. Three more flights were diverted from Kolkata due to the same reason.
A senior official of the Airports Authority of India (AAI) said the disruption in flight services happened between 5 to 8 am on Thursday as visibility at the city airport was less than 50-metre during that time frame.
"The five domestic flights bound to Bengaluru, Port Blair, Jaipur, Chennai and Guwahati were delayed from the NSCBI airport due to poor visibility conditions," the official said.
Two domestic flights coming from Delhi and Guwahati and an international flight from Bangkok had to be diverted to Guwahati for the same reason.
The Regional Metrological Centre at Alipore has predicted that the sky in some parts may remain cloudy.
"The foggy conditions may prevail for the next 24 hours. The day will be hot and sultry and the maximum temperature will be around 36 degree Celsius.
"There is no chance of any rainfall in the city in the next 24 hours," a senior official of Alipore weather office said.
Wednesday was Kolkata's hottest day of the year so far, with the maximum temperature shooting up to 37.5 degrees Celsius. It was also the warmest March 14 in at least five years.