Dense fog halts flight operations at Dhaka airport for 6hrs

Flight operations at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport were disrupted for around six hours today due to dense fog.

The airport authorities halted the flight operations around 3:00am and resumed the service around 9:00am today, SN Wahid Ur Rahman, deputy director of Air Traffic Control at HSIA, told The Daily Star.

Two Dhaka-bound flights of Biman Bangladesh Airlines had to divert their landing to Kolkata due to dense fog and poor visibility at the Dhaka airport, the official said.

The flights are Biman’s Kuala Lumper-Dhaka flight which was scheduled to land at Dhaka airport on 3:00am but had to divert and land at Kolkata airport at 4:00am, and Dubai-Dhaka flight which was scheduled to land at 7:30am but instead diverted to Kolkata and landed there at 9:00am.

Meanwhile, two flights of Saudi Arabian Airlines and Emirates Airlines from Dhaka got delayed due to fog.

The Dhaka-Jeddah flight of Saudi Arabian Airlines was scheduled to take-off at 2:50am today, but it got delayed and is now scheduled to take off at 11:00pm tonight, causing much sufferings to the passengers, SN Wahid Ur Rahman said.

The Dhaka-Dubai flight of Emirates Airlines was scheduled to take-off at 1:00am today, but it got delayed and later took-off at 9:15am after the flight operations resumed at Dhaka airport, the official also said.

Flight operations returned to normalcy after around 9:00am today, he added.  

A number of flights to and from Dhaka got disrupted in the last few days due to dense fog and poor visibility as a cold wave is sweeping across the country.