Fog causes flight delays

In Dubai, seven in-bound flights of Emirates were diverted to airports around the region and one flight was cancelled as a result of the fog, an airline official said.

“These flights arrived in Dubai around mid-morning, after the weather had improved. The fog also delayed all our morning flight departures. There was only one flight cancellation - EK 931 to Alexandria,” the official said.

The delayed flights include EK 344 from Singapore; EK 413 from Sydney; EK405 from Melbourne via Singapore; EK385 from Hong Kong via Bangkok; EK 533 from Kochi; EK 407 from Melbourne; and EK 315 from Nagoya. Five other in-bound flights were also diverted.

In Abu Dhabi, seven in-bound flights were diverted to both Muscat and Doha until the fog lifted and the flights arrived around 10am, Etihad Airways spokesperson Tom Clarke said.

The diversion and delay of about two hours caused a flow on effect to outbound flights.

Nine outbound flights were delayed and one flight to Muscat and one flight to Bahrain were cancelled as the airline had to reorganise flights to deal with delays.

Clarke said the airline was planning for possible fog again yesterday night but the fog was unlikely to be as heavy, as predicted by weathermen.

Both Emirates and Etihad officials said they had endeavoured to provide the best service possible by accommodating and re-booking passengers.

Meanwhile, a Dubai Police source disclosed that around 15 minor road accidents were reported during the early hours of the morning due to the fog which lasted from 5.30am to 6.30am. Meanwhile, 16 minor road accidents were reported in the emirate of Sharjah during the fog, a Sharjah police official said.

A further four accidents were reported on Ajman roads but nobody was seriously injured in any of the accidents.