New Delhi, June 23: With Delhi sizzling at 45 degree celsius on Friday, flight operations were affected at the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) airport between 2:30 pm to 5 pm. Take-offs were halted for the two-and-a-half hour period as the Palam weather station recorded a peak temperature of 44.9 degree celsius -- six notches above normal.

At such high temperatures, the takeoff remains a tedious task as the air loses density. To ensure the carriers were prepared, the IGI airport had informed all flights 30 minutes in advance about the runway temperature.

While some carriers resorted to a longer-run at the runway to beat the low air density, others decided to halt the takeoffs till the temperature cooled down.

A senior commander of a wide body aircraft, while speaking to TOI, said a jet engine performance is directly proportional to the outside air temperature. "The higher the air temperature, the more the load penalty in terms of performance and thus, the load carrying capacity goes down," he further said, further adding that temperatures above 45 leads to major complications for the engine.

The weather in Delhi has remained four degrees above normal over the past week. Meteorological department officials have attributed this to the clear skies and north-westerly winds. The temperature will dip, they claim, from June 27 after the onset of Monsoon.

Pre-season showers are expected in the national capital region today as overcast conditions were recorded in the morning.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 23, 2018 11:57 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).