Dense fog disrupts early morning landings at BIA

Wednesday, 8 January 2025 00:12 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

By T.K.G. Kapila

Four international flights scheduled to land at Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) in Katunayake faced significant disruption yesterday morning due to dense fog blanketing the area.

The reduced visibility forced air traffic controllers to redirect the aircraft to alternative airports, including Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport (MRIA) and Trivandrum Airport India.

According to the officer-in-charge at BIA, pilots of the affected fights reported difficulty in seeing the runway during the early hours, prompting swift action to ensure passenger and aircraft safety. Among the rerouted flights were three SriLankan Airlines services: UL-226 from Dubai, UL-881 from Guangzhou and UL-174 from Bangalore. These flights were diverted to Mattala Airport between 5 a.m. Additionally, Turkish Airlines flight TK-730 arriving from Istanbul at 6 a.m., was redirected to Trivandrum Airport in India.

At MRIA, the diverted SriLankan Airlines flights were refuelled before returning to BIA. Passengers abroad these aircraft were not disembarked during the stopover.

It was noted that by 7 a.m. the dense fog at BIA had cleared sufficiently to allow normal flight operations to resume. The rerouted flights gradually returned to BIA, Katunayake with all four aircraft safety by 9 a.m.

Airport authorities confirmed that flights arriving after the fog cleared were able to land without any further issues.

The officer-in-charge asserted that passenger safety remained the top priority during the brief, but disruptive weather event.