Flight schedule disrupts due to heavy fog
ISLAMABAD, (MILLAT ONLINE):Dozens of domestic and international flights were disrupted as heavy fog engulfed large parts of Punjab for the second consecutive day on Thursday, paralysing routine life and air and road traffic.
The thick fog forced authorities to delay and cancel several incoming and outgoing flights at Lahore’s Allama Iqbal International airport. Several other flights were re-routed owing to foggy
conditions.
Flights from Karachi to Faisalabad and Sialkot were among those affected.“The weather condition is beyond the control of the airline. PIA has to adjust the timings of its flights due to such weather conditions, as the airline cannot operate flights with poor visibility and also keeping in view the safety requirements,” a spokesman from Pakistan International Airlines talking to private news channel said.
“Passengers are requested to contact PIA Call Centre at 111786786 for flight updates,” the spokesman added.
Shaheen Air and Air Blue flights from Saudi Arabia to Lahore were forced to land in Karachi due to poor visibility.The fog drastically reduced visibility on the roads in the early morning hours, bringing it down to as low as zero in Toba Tek Singh and other cities. Visibility reduced to 20 metres on Motorway M4 near Gojra.
According to the Pakistan Meteorological Department, dense foggy conditions are likely to prevail over plain areas of Punjab and upper Sindh during the next 24 hours.
The Motorway police has appealed to the drivers to exercise caution and drive slowly and switch on fog lights.
People are advised to stay at home and avoid unnecessary travelling. Over the next 24 hours, rain-thunderstorm (with snowfall over the hills) is expected at scattered places in Malakand, Hazara divisions and at isolated places in Peshawar, Mardan, Kohat, Rawalpindi, Gujranwala, Quetta, Zhob divisions, Islamabad, FATA, Gilgit-Baltistan and Kashmir.