Dense fog delays, diverts flights at Dhaka airport

Dense fog disrupted flight operations at Shahjalal airport in Dhaka and ferry service on the Paturia-Daulatdia route today.

A flight of Biman Bangladesh Airlines on Kuala Lumpur-Dhaka route, scheduled to land at the airport at 6:49am, was diverted to Yangon of Myanmar due to the dense fog, AKM Rezaul Karim, public relations officer of Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB), told The Daily Star.

Another Singapore-Dhaka flight of US-Bangla Airlines, scheduled to land at 7:15am, was diverted to Chittagong, the CAAB official said.

All outbound domestic flights scheduled to fly in the morning from Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka were delayed for two to three hours due to the dense fog.

At least 12 flights of three domestic airlines were scheduled to leave for different destinations in domestic routes, reports our correspondent from the airport.

Today, the first flight departure at the airport took place at 9:50am and arrival at 10:10am, he said.

Paturia-Daulatdia ferry route

Meanwhile, ferry service on Paturia-Daulatdia route in Padma river resumed this morning after over seven hours of its suspension due to dense fog at 1:45am, Shafiqul Islam, manager (commerce) of Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Corporation (BIWTC) in Daulatdia told our Manikganj correspondent.

Five ferries with passengers and vehicles were stuck in the middle of the river while five ferries were stranded at Paturia ferry ghat in Manikganj district and six others were anchored at Daulatdia ferry ghat of Rajbari district.

Ferry service on Paturia-Daulatdia route in Padma river resumes on January 22, 2018 after over seven hours of its suspension due to dense fog. Photo: Star

More than 700 vehicles were seen lined up in Daulatdia ghat area while 600 were seen lined up at Paturia around 8:00am.                   

Since midnight, fog has increased. At 1:45am, the thickness of the fog covered the entire waterways, our Manikganj correspondent reports quoting Nasir Mohammad Chowdhury, manager of BIWTC Aricha sector.

Ferry movement was stopped to avoid any untoward incidents, the BIWTC official said.

The service will resume after dense fog is cleared, he added.