Season’s first fog hits flights in Amritsar

Dense fog led to an Amritsar-bound Spicejet flight being diverted to Chandigarh on Wednesday morning.

Dense fog led to an Amritsar-bound Spicejet flight being diverted to Chandigarh on Wednesday morning.

The flights had to be diverted due to dense fog in the morning. (HT Representative Image)

The flight coming from Dubai was supposed to land at Sri Guru Ram Dass Jee International Airport at 8.30am, but had to be diverted due to poor visibility -- the first such case this season.

Another flight of Turkmenistan Airlines from Ashgabat, which was to reach Amritsar at 6.35am, was also diverted to New Delhi, but finally landed here at 10.53am as the weather cleared up.

Airport director V Venkat Rao said: “The flights had to be diverted due to dense fog in the morning. The visibility was below 650m, the minimum requirement for flights to operate.”

The operations were affected throughout the day, as it remained hazy, especially on the outskirts of the city.

The flights that were delayed included that of Air India, Qatar Airways, Spicejet and Air Canada.

Met department officials said fog at this time of the year, with early winters setting in, was unusual. The department has predicted mainly clear sky on Thursday.

(With agency inputs)