Bhogi Festival Smoke & Fog Disrupt Chennai Airport, Cancelling 8 Flights

However, there has been no major inconvenience to passengers as the airlines had already informed them in advance about these cancellations and delays.

Since the expected level of smoke haze and fog did not occur at Chennai Airport this year, flight operations have not been severely affected.

Disruptions to flight operations at Chennai Airport during the Bhogi festival have been recurring for several years. At the peak of such disruptions, in 2018, as many as 73 departing flights and 45 arriving flights, totalling 118 flight services, were affected due to Bhogi-related smoke. In 2024, due to Bhogi smoke and fog, 27 arriving flights and 24 departing flights, a total of 51 services, were affected.

Anticipating similar disruptions during the Bhogi festival in 2025, the Airports Authority of India took precautionary measures by rescheduling flights arriving at and departing from Chennai Airport between 4:00 a.m. and 8:00 a.m. Accordingly, the departure and arrival times of approximately 30 flights were revised, and passengers were informed well in advance via text messages.

Bhogi festival, which falls a day before the Pongal festival, is traditionally observed by people burning old and discarded household items on the streets outside their homes. Similarly, in residential areas surrounding Chennai Airport, such as Meenambakkam, Gowl Bazaar, Pozhichalur, Pammal, Anakaputhur, Thoraipakkam, Manapakkam, Nandambakkam, and other localities, old plastic waste, tyres, and other discarded materials are burned in the early hours of the morning as part of Bhogi celebrations.

This results in heavy smoke engulfing the runway area of Chennai Airport. Along with this, early-morning fog further reduces visibility, sometimes to the extent that the runway itself becomes invisible due to dense smoke and fog.

In this context, the Bhogi festival is being observed today. As a result, given the possibility of disruptions from the early hours of the day from the burning of waste materials in the residential areas surrounding Chennai Airport, it was announced yesterday that some flights would be cancelled and others would depart with delays as a precautionary measure.

Accordingly, four departing flights have been cancelled today: the flight to Pune scheduled at 3:05 a.m., the flight to Coimbatore at 6:35 a.m., the flight to Mumbai at 7:15 a.m., and the flight to Delhi at 8:00 a.m.

Similarly, four arriving flights have also been cancelled today: the flight from Delhi scheduled to arrive at 5:20 a.m., the flight from Mumbai at 6:35 a.m., the flight from Pune at 7:10 a.m., and the flight from Coimbatore at 9:10 a.m.

Likewise, the release stated, the flight from Chennai to Vijayawada scheduled at 5:40 a.m. is departing at 8:40 a.m. after a delay of three hours; the flight to Thoothukudi scheduled at 6:10 a.m. is departing at 9:10 a.m. after a three-hour delay; the flight to Visakhapatnam scheduled at 6:20 a.m. is departing at 7:30 a.m.; the flight to Muscat scheduled at 7:15 a.m. is departing at 10:15 a.m.; the flight to Andaman scheduled at 7:40 a.m. is departing at 8:40 a.m.; the flight to Bengaluru scheduled at 8:30 a.m. is departing at 9:30 a.m.; and the flight to Tiruchirappalli scheduled at 9:10 a.m. is departing at 10:10 a.m., all with delays.

Similarly, arriving flights are delayed: the flight from Singapore, scheduled to arrive at 5:55 a.m., is arriving at 8:20 a.m.; the flight from Muscat, scheduled to arrive at 6:30 a.m., is arriving at 9:00 a.m.; and the flight from Kuala Lumpur, scheduled to arrive at 7:00 a.m., is arriving at 8:40 a.m.

Thus, at Chennai Airport today, a total of eight flights have been cancelled, while ten flights, seven departures from Chennai and three arrivals to Chennai, are operating with delays ranging from one hour to three hours. However, notably, as of 7:00 a.m. today, no significant smoke haze or fog has been reported in the Chennai Airport area.

- ANI