Dense fog disrupts flights in Pakistan

LAHORE: Dense fog continues to blanket Pakistan, disrupting air travel and causing widespread inconvenience to passengers.

A staggering 45 flights were cancelled on Saturday due to poor visibility, with passengers forced to rebook or find alternative transportation. This brings the total number of cancelled flights in the first 19 days of the year to a staggering 516, highlighting the severity of the ongoing weather situation.

Sialkot was the worst-hit city with flights from Sharjah, Abu Dhabi, Jeddah, Dubai, Doha, and Muscat all being diverted to Lahore due to the thick fog. The Jeddah-Lahore flight PF-717 had to wait for an hour before it could land in Karachi, further adding to the travel woes of passengers.

Flights to Dubai, Multan, Dammam, Kuwait City, and Karachi were all shifted to Islamabad, while several other routes, including Sialkot-Sharjah, Sialkot-Doha, Lahore-Karachi, Lahore-Sharjah, Lahore-Jeddah, Islamabad-Karachi, Multan-Jeddah-Dubai, Karachi-Dammam-Muscat and Jeddah-Multan-Gwadar were cancelled altogether.

The ongoing fog disruptions have left many passengers stranded and frustrated. Social media is abuzz with complaints about the cancelled flights, missed connections and long delays. Some passengers have reported being stuck at airports for hours on end, with little to no information from airlines about when their flights might resume.

The Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) has warned that the fog is likely to persist in the coming days, raising concerns about further flight disruptions. Passengers were advised to check with their airlines for the latest updates and to allow extra time for travel during this period.

Meanwhile, severe fog prompted schedule changes for flights today (Saturday) in Islamabad. Visibility remained below 150 meters even at noon in Islamabad, posing safety concerns for Airbus A320 flights. Flights diverted from Islamabad included PK-182 from Sharjah, PK-162 from Abu Dhabi and PK-168 from Al-Qassim, now rerouted towards Lahore. PK-451/452 to Skardu, PK-211/212 and 233 to Dubai and PK-308 to Karachi were cancelled. Additionally, flights PK-236 to Lahore from Dubai and PK-726 from Riyadh to Lahore were diverted to Karachi.