ABU DHABI // Five flights to Abu Dhabi International Airport were diverted this morning due to thick fog. The Etihad Airways planes arriving from Cairo, Calicut, Kerala and Kochi were diverted to Al Ain International Airport while a plane arriving from Beirut was diverted to Doha. All the planes were expected to arrive in Abu Dhabi before midday. The A320 medium-range aeroplanes need visibility on the runway to be above 175 metres in order to land, a spokesman for Etihad said.
An Etihad plane from Muscat, due to leave for Abu Dhabi at 11am, was delayed due to the fog. None of Etihad's long-haul flights were affected. Abu Dhabi Airports Company (ADAC) said the airport continued to operate as usual. Andrew Chupeau, an ADAC spokesman, said runway visibility had not fallen below the 125 metre threshold needed for planes to be cleared for take-off and landing. mchung@thenational.ae
