Fog disrupts flights at Abu Dhabi airport

Runway reopens at 6.30am after heavy fog but flight delays continue

Flight operations at Abu Dhabi International Airport were badly affected by the heavy fog on Monday morning, disrupting several flights.

Thick fog covered the area just after midnight, reducing visibility at Abu Dhabi International Airport and hampering the flights operations. It delayed the departure of 44 early morning flights from Abu Dhabi by up to four hours, while several others were cancelled.

Following the reopening of the airport’s runway at 6.10am, the airline recommenced operations into Abu Dhabi, and began repositioning 21 flights which were diverted to seven other airports in the region. Fifteen flights were able to proceed to Abu Dhabi by midday.

Six inbound flights from Colombo, Doha, Kuwait, Dammam, Seychelles and London were diverted to Al Ain, Al Bateen and Dubai World Central.

Flights also departed to Munich, Paris, New York, Milan, Rome, Manila, Riyadh, London, Dublin, Casablanca and Kuwait, and a large number of additional flights flew out in the afternoon.

Etihad Airways said it is working to minimise disruption to its customers’ plans. However, delays are anticipated for the rest of the day, a Press statement from the airline said.

A small number of flights were cancelled and passengers re-booked on later Etihad Airways flights. A passenger aboard Etihad Airways’ flight to Cairo said her flight was to take off at 12.50am, but it couldn’t until 12pm. “Nobody from the airline was telling us when we will fly,” she said.

Etihad Airways deployed almost 100 additional staff in the Abu Dhabi airport to assist departing and arriving passengers affected by this morning’s heavy fog.

Of the flights diverted to other airports, 18 were passenger aircraft and three were freighters.

haseeb@khaleejtimes.com