Thick Smog Blankets Delhi-NCR, Over 100 Flights Cancelled, 50 Trains Delayed

The national capital, Delhi, woke up to a thick layer of smog blanketing the city with the Air Quality Index (AQI) at 380, falling under the 'very poor' category. Several flights and trains are running late due to smog-led reduced visibility in the city.

Visulas from Bhairav Marg near Pragati Maidan, where AQI was recorded at 433 at 7am, showed people driving with headlights on.

#WATCH | Delhi | Dense layer of toxic fog engulfs the national capital. Visuals from Bhairav Marg near Pragati Maidan. CPCB claims that the AQI in the area is at '433', categorised as 'Severe'. pic.twitter.com/1D79ZqKSeG

— ANI (@ANI) December 20, 2025

Also Read | Why Doesn't India Report Air Quality (AQI) Measure Beyond 500?

Nearly half of the monitoring stations in Delhi (16 out of 40) reported AQI in the 'severe' category at 7 am. Anand Vihar recorded AQI of 428 with particulate matter 2.5 (PM2.5) as the major pollutant, followed by Jahangirpuri reporting 425 AQI.

Check visuals from several parts of the city:

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by NDTV (@ndtv)

Flight, Train Ops Hit

Delhi Airport has issued an advisory, urging passengers to contact airlines for latest flight updates. Low visibility procedures are in progress at Delhi Airport, it said.

"All flight operations are functioning normally. Passengers are advised to contact their respective airlines for the latest flight updates."

Passenger Advisory issued at 07:00 hours.

Please click on this link for real-time winter-ready travel updates: https://t.co/Y0B6lhwIj4#DelhiAirport#PassengerAdvisory#DELAdvisorypic.twitter.com/Njr8t6CLJL

— Delhi Airport (@DelhiAirport) December 20, 2025

Live runway visibility data provided by the Delhi Airport shows visibility between 800-1200 meter at around 8:15 am.

As of 10 am, 66 arrivals and 63 departures from Delhi have been cancelled for the day.

Data from Flightradar24, live flight tracker, shows flight disruptions with several flights running late.

Air India on Friday night warned passengers of likely disruptions amid dense fog forecast in Delhi and parts of northern and eastern India.

"Flight operations are likely to be affected at Delhi, Amritsar (ATQ), Chandigarh (IXC), Lucknow (LKO), Varanasi (VNS), and Patna (PAT), with a ripple effect across the network," Air India said.

The airlines asked passengers to check flight status before proceeding to the airport.

"Passengers booked on select flights during the fog window will continue to receive advance alerts under our FogCare initiative, with the option to change flights without additional payment or seek a full refund without penalty," it added.

#TravelAdvisory

Air India continues to remain vigilant and will make every effort to mitigate fog-related disruptions. We understand how important your travel plans are, especially during this holiday season, and we are working round the clock to minimise any inconvenience.

As…

— Air India (@airindia) December 19, 2025

Over 30 trains are running behind schedule with an average delay of three to four hours. New Delhi Tejas Rajdhani Express, connecting Bhubaneswar to New Delhi is running nearly eight hours late. Similarly, Champaran Humsafar Express, connecting Katihar Junction in Bihar to Delhi is six hours and 20 minutes late.

Air Quality Index Likely To Turn 'Severe'

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Friday had predicted dense to very dense fog at isolated places over Bihar, Haryana, Chandigarh & Delhi, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Uttarakhand.

IMD Weather Warning !

Dense/Very Dense Fog very likely at isolated places over Bihar, Haryana, Chandigarh & Delhi, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Uttarakhand till morning hours of 20th December.#IMDWeatherWarning#DenseFog#VeryDenseFog#WeatherAlert… pic.twitter.com/Tj0L6tXvXK

— India Meteorological Department (@Indiametdept) December 19, 2025

According to the Air Quality Early Warning System for Delhi, air quality is likely to remain in the ‘very poor' category on Saturday and is expected to slip into the ‘severe' category on Sunday and Monday. In view of this, the IMD issued an 'orange' alert for Saturday.