Hazy conditions hit most of UAE

Dubai: Forecasters have warned there could be more fog this morning, following on from another day in which poor visibility caused severe disruption to flights.

The runways at Abu Dhabi International Airport were closed for nearly nine hours yesterday morning when visibility in the UAE capital dropped to as little as 100 metres.

Cancelled

After the airport was closed at about midnight, 16 inbound flights yesterday morning were diverted to Al Ain International Airport, 10 of them services by Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways. Dozens of outbound services from Abu Dhabi were delayed or cancelled yesterday because of the conditions.

"The airport has been speeding up the clearance of delayed flights," said a statement from Abu Dhabi Airports Company.

Etihad had to cancel nine outbound flights, but to help clear the backlog of passengers the airline put in an extra service to Beirut after chartering a plane from another carrier. "The team on the ground at the airport is trying to help [delayed passengers] as much as possible and meal vouchers have been given out by airport ground handling teams," said an Etihad spokesman.

Spared

Dubai International Airport and Sharjah International Airport were yesterday morning spared of the very severe fog that hit them the previous day, although visibility did fall below normal levels.

Sultan Al Mazam, Duty manager at Sharjah International Airport, said the knock-on effects of Saturday morning's disruption were still causing delays yesterday, albeit of only about 30 minutes to one hour compared to several hours the previous day.

There was fog in Ras Al Khaimah yesterday, but Al Ain and Fujairah remained clear. Clive Stevens, duty forecaster at Dubai International Airport, said there was "quite a good risk" of fog this morning. Forecasters said that severe fog is less likely tomorrow morning, however.

Stevens said at this time of the year fog can start as early as 11pm and remain until as late as 9am. "In November, December and January it lasts a long time and can cause a lot of trouble," Stevens said.

By contrast, in the summer months he said fog tends to start at around 5am and will usually be cleared by about 8am.