Delhi Airport Boosts Winter Operations with AI and CAT III Runway Upgrades

December 10, 2025 at 12:00 AM•2 min read

Delhi Airport enhances winter readiness with AI, predictive analytics, and CAT III runway upgrades to minimize fog disruptions.

Key Points

1Delhi Airport upgraded all three runways to CAT III compliant status, enabling safe landings in dense fog conditions.
2A new AI-powered Airport Predictive Operations Centre (APOC) optimizes resource deployment and decision-making during fog events.
3Winter Fog Experiment (WiFEX) data, with 85% accuracy, aids in predicting fog 1-36 hours in advance for proactive planning.
4These enhancements are projected to cut fog-related flight recovery time by four hours, from six hours to two hours.

GMR Aero-led Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL), India's busiest airport operator, has significantly bolstered its winter preparedness through the integration of next-generation AI systems, advanced predictive analytics, and enhanced runway capabilities. These upgrades are designed to ensure safer, more efficient flight operations and minimize passenger disruptions during challenging low-visibility conditions.

Central to this strategy is Delhi Airport's 'Airport Predictive Operations Centre (APOC)', which consolidates real-time data, predictive weather models, and airside operational inputs. This integrated command environment facilitates faster decision-making and more precise resource deployment during fog, optimizing runway utilization, gate allocation, aircraft sequencing, and communication with all partners. Additionally, DIAL is piloting the Winter Fog Experiment (WiFEX) data, which boasts an 85% fog prediction accuracy, enabling proactive operational planning up to 36 hours in advance through collaboration with the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM) and the India Meteorological Department (IMD).

In a significant airside upgrade, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) has equipped the Dwarka end of Runway 10/28 with a CAT III Instrument Landing System. This enhancement means all three runways at Delhi Airport (10/28, 11L/29R, and 11R/29L) are now CAT-III compliant at both ends, allowing safe landings even in dense fog and maintaining approximately 30 landings per hour under low-visibility conditions. This milestone is expected to reduce fog-related recovery time from six hours to just two hours.

Videh Kumar Jaipuriar, CEO-DIAL, affirmed the airport's commitment to minimizing fog's impact, stating that these technological and infrastructure advancements will greatly improve the airport's ability to plan, respond, and recover quickly. The comprehensive upgrades position Delhi Airport as a future-ready aviation hub, ensuring reliable, safe, and comfortable travel throughout the challenging winter fog season.