Kashmir Fogged Out, Air Traffic Crippled

Srinagar: Both flights supposed to carry Hajj pilgrims from Srinagar were cancelled for the fourth day today even as no plane was able to take off from the Sheikh-ul-Aalam airport due to poor visibility. Nearly 400 pilgrims were scheduled to leave for Jeddah today, but heavy fog had reduced visibility to just 1.5 kms on the Srinagar airport, reports said.
Sources said that the first flight coming for Hajj pilgrims was unable to land at Srinagar in the morning because of dense fog.
Attempts were made to land the aircraft despite poor visibility, but despite 2 hours of efforts, both flights were cancelled.
"The minimum required visibility is 2.2 km while on Thusday the visibility at Srinagar airport was only 1.2 km," an official of the Indian Airlines said.
More than 60 flights from and to Srinagar have been cancelled and the anguished passengers are being forced to use the road route through the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway, which is itself prone to disruptions.
29/11/07 Kashmir Observer

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Categories: Airports Nov 2007