Several domestic, international flights are delayed, canceled as visibility drops to 50 meters
Jinnah International Airport, Karachi. PHOTO: FILE
Dense fog shrouded Karachi and surrounding areas on Thursday morning, partially disrupting flight operations at Jinnah International Airport, delaying and canceling several domestic and international flights.
Visibility dropped to as low as 50 meters at the airport and in nearby areas including Gulistan-e-Johar, Gulshan-e-Hadeed, Malir and DHA Phase VIII.
At least 10 inbound and outbound flights were affected due to the fog. At the same time, several domestic and international flights were rescheduled to later hours of the day, with some being moved to evening schedules as low visibility continued.
Pakistan International Airlines’ Karachi-to-Lahore flight PK-302, which was scheduled to depart at 8, was late. Foreign airlines from Karachi to Jeddah and Riyadh have also faced delays.
Qatar Airways’ Karachi flight scheduled for 9.00, was delayed and rescheduled to 4:30 p.m. A private domestic airline’s flights from Karachi to Lahore and Faisalabad were also delayed.
Flights operated by Flydubai from Karachi to Dubai, Saudi Airlines from Karachi to Jeddah and AirSial from Karachi to Lahore and Peshawar were also among those affected.
The disruption also led to the cancellation of six flights. These included Air China’s CA-946 from Karachi to Beijing, AirAsia X’s D7-109, bound for Kuala Lumpur, Air Sial’s PF-123 to Islamabad and PF-145 to Lahore, and Airblue’s PA-206 to Islamabad and PA-404 to Lahore.
Heavy fog was also reported in Jamiatur-Rasheed Ahsanabad and Gulzar-e-Hijri, Schedule 33.
