Keyser

its without a doubt the safest of the 4 options the op presented....

option (a) is asking for trouble, option (b) is too close for comfort & with option (d) the flight will probably get delayed by 3-4 hours due to landing conditions in del....

even safer would be to fly in a day earlier but i don't think the op is looking for that....

AllAboutFlying

How about booking the early morning flight and then atleast if it gets cancelled one can immediately book the afternoon / evening flight. PNQ - DEL is not a very packed sector anyway.

I have done this once. Straight away went to Bhopal and took the Shatabadi (thankfully had the tickets available) reached delhi airport at 12 am .

Keyser

it shouldn't get cancelled but it will get delayed & will probably take off around the same time as option c....

AllAboutFlying

Haha.. I will take your experience of it. But it did make me laugh ... will probably take off around the same time as option c

aktchi

Thanks to all who replied. I wish I could leave a day earlier but a good part of the reason for visiting PNQ is a family event that evening.

After considering everything, I have booked the option C: hope to depart 11:30AM and reach DEL 1:30PM. This is right in the middle of the day. If we make it on time, we can actually go to a hotel for some rest instead of just hanging around at the airport. If delayed, it will give us about 10-11 hour cushion; I hope that will be enough. Finally we'll definitely watch the weather situation and forecasts, and amend the plans if needed.

Re what to do between 2PM and 11PM - I can definitely use your advice but will start another thread, so the title will make the questions clear.

SanFranCA

Thank you--luckily we did have insurance that reimbursed most of our costs.

That's right, 9W cancelled flights for 2 days but AI continued to operate. One other thing to keep in mind is that this is peak season for international flights to and from India, so if you miss your original flight it is not so easy to get a replacement, particularly in the same fare class. We did get back to Delhi on AI one day late but then had to wait longer to get flights back home.

While waiting to get home, we went to see the Qutab Minar and Merauli archeological park and spent time exploring Hauz Khas, all a short taxi ride from the airport. These might be other options for your afternoon, Aktchi.

ashishp

Dont know about 6E since i dont fly them and they operate from a different terminal. But i expect them to put up a professional show.

AI has a full complement of Cat3C rated pilots who in the fog season are based out of DEL. Senior managers were personally sitting in a makeshift office near Gate 42 of the domestic pier overseeing ops. Last year, atleast their A32S fleet operated reasonably even on near 0 visibility days. From what I noticed most of the delays/cancellations from AI were 77W/788/332/ATR flights.

An additional consideration in your case is that 6E operates from the Low cost Terminal 1. For your international flight you will have to take the inter-terminal bus which may not operate during fog situation. AI/9W ops are all integrated into Terminal T3.

Overall i would choose AI.

rdurlabhji

I've had trains get delayed by fog too, although its less likely. Something to keep in mind - I was stuck in Lucknow for two days trying to get back to Jaipur.

AllAboutFlying

It was Shatabadi.. Usually on time.

galaticos

One thing I would do is make sure a local active number is given to BA.. couple of times I've had airlines push up the departure time (AA especially did this 4 times to me from 1am departure to 12.15am departure to avoid oncoming fog)..

In such a case - airline tries ONLY india numbers.. that's why AA couldnt get a hold of me (they couldnt either since I was circling above delhi airport on my KF flight from BOM!!)..

Please ensure BA has a local number!

Keyser

trains in & out of delhi in the morning & evening are sure to get delayed....i often have to travel to allahabad for work & the airport there is not equipped to handle fog season so ai cancels its flight there almost every day during this period....i've often had to take the train to allahabad & back....on an average, the trains are delayed by about 8 hours....the longest delay i remember was almost 20 hours a couple of years ago....

AllAboutFlying

Delhi - Allahabad 20 hours ! That is insane.

Keyser

actually it was more like 29 hours....9 hours for the actual journey & a 20 hour delay....

CCU_Flyer

Even in shatabadi if there is fog most trains do get delayed considerably.

It once took me 14 hours to reach Kanpur (in a Rajdhani which stared 10 hours late) when I was on my way to Kolkata. I got of the train to take a day break and thb took a flight from Lucknow the next day. ( had relatives in Kanpur making the decision easy)

In my experience if there is a fog delay in Delhi chances of fog delay in UP and surrounding area is much higher and since trains cannot be cat3 compliant I would rather bet on a delayed flight rather then step on a train.