More flight cancellations ahead? Here's what IndiGo, Air India, SpiceJet said on foggy conditions

Dense fog and low visibility continued to disrupt flight operations across parts of northern and eastern India on Thursday, prompting airlines including IndiGo, Air India and SpiceJet to warn passengers of delays and cancellations.

Budget carrier IndiGo said in a series of posts on X that low visibility had impacted flight schedules at Chandigarh, Ranchi, Patna, Varanasi and Gorakhpur, as well as parts of the eastern region.

The airline said it was monitoring conditions in real time and managing operations carefully with safety as the top priority.

IndiGo has cancelled at least 40 flights so far on Thursday, largely affecting services to and from Varanasi, Patna, Chandigarh, Gaya, Lucknow and Kolkata, according to a list shared by the airline.

Several flights connecting Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Chennai to these cities were among those cancelled.

Air India also warned that potential dense fog over the next few days could impact operations at its primary hub in Delhi and at a few airports in northern and eastern India, with a cascading effect across its network.

The Tata Group-owned airline said it had taken proactive steps to mitigate disruptions but cautioned that sudden cancellations or prolonged delays were possible if conditions worsened.

Air India said passengers on flights likely to be affected would receive advance alerts and could change flights without extra charges or seek a full refund without penalty.

SpiceJet issued multiple weather advisories flagging possible disruptions due to poor visibility at airports including Delhi, Varanasi, Gorakhpur, Patna, Ayodhya and Darbhanga, and advised passengers to check flight status before heading to airports.

Low visibility conditions significantly affected operations at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport, where officials said 22 flights had been cancelled so far due to dense fog, including 11 departures and 11 arrivals. More than 250 flights were delayed.