As Bengaluru recorded lower-than-normal temperatures for the past week, the resulting fog and weather situation affected the departure and arrival of flights at the Kempegowda International Airport on the morning of Tuesday, December 21. Two flights meant to land at the Bengaluru airport were diverted – a SpiceJet flight from Hyderabad to Bengaluru, and an Air India flight from Abu Dhabi to Kannur to Bengaluru. Both the flights were diverted to Chennai, according to airport officials.
Apart from the diverted flights, delays in departure of 39 flights were also reported at the airport. Earlier, on Sunday, December 19, budget airline SpiceJet had said that due to bad weather conditions in Bengaluru, all departures and arrivals, as well as their consequential flights, may be affected.
As per data recorded by the India Meteorological Department (IMD) at 8 am on Tuesday, Bengaluru city recorded a maximum temperature of 27.7 degrees Celsius, while the minimum temperature dipped to as low as 16 degrees Celsius over the last 24 hours. The Bengaluru airport was slightly cooler, with the maximum temperature at 26.2ºC, while the minimum temperature was two degrees below what the city experienced, at 14ºC. The weather near the HAL airport in the city was colder still, with the maximum temperature standing at 25.2 degrees and the minimum temperature dropping to 13.5ºC.
At 9 am on Tuesday, the IMD said that while the following 24 hours were likely to see clear skies, fog would be very likely in the early morning hours in some parts of the city. The maximum and minimum temperatures would likely be around 28ºC and 15ºC respectively in the city, the weather watchdog said.
For the next 48 hours, the IMD predicted that again, while clear skies would be prevalent, fog would be very likely in certain areas, and the maximum and minimum temperatures would be around 28 degrees and 16 degrees respectively.