Fog forces 98 flight diversions

Dubai: Scores of flights were delayed and hundreds of passengers left waiting when thick fog enveloped the UAE on Saturday morning.
The disruption lasted till evening at airports as staff worked to clear the backlog caused by the morning blanket of fog, which cut visibility to as little as 100 metres.
Most of the country was hit by the fog yesterday and there is likely to be more fog this morning.
A total of 98 inbound flights to Dubai were diverted to Muscat, Bahrain, Doha, Ras Al Khaimah, Al Ain and Fujairah after the fog developed from about 3am. Many outbound services were delayed.
Abu Dhabi International Airport was closed from about midnight to around 2.30am, and then again from 7.45am to 10.45am.
Four inbound flights to Abu Dhabi from other airlines were diverted to other airports, while two outgoing flights - a Gulf Air service to Bahrain and an Etihad flight to Bahrain -were cancelled.
The duty manager at Sharjah International Airport said between 10 and 15 inbound services were diverted to Muscat and Dubai during the morning.
He said that the delays to inbound services were causing many outbound flights to be delayed, with passengers suffering delays of "three to four hours, something like that".
17/11/07 Daniel Bardsley/Gulf News, United Arab Emirates

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Categories: Airports Nov 2007, Foreign Nov 2007, Safety Nov 2007