HCMC – Thick fog forced nearly 30 domestic and international flights heading to the Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi City last night, February 17, to divert to other airports, including Van Don in Quang Ninh Province and Danang.
Dense fog shrouded many parts of the northern region on Thursday, preventing many flights from landing at the Noi Bai airport, as well as other northern airports.
At 10.00 p.m., in the Noi Bai airport area, the visibility was poor, at only 700-800 meters, while the cloud ceiling was considered too low, at 50-60 meters. As such, it was unsafe for landings.
Vietjet flight VJ168, which took off from the Tan Son Nhat International Airport in HCMC at 6.30 p.m. on Thursday, was set to land at the Noi Bai airport at 8.15 p.m., but must circle overhead for over one hour and 45 minutes, rather than touching down. After that, the pilot announced that the flight would divert to Danang, due to the poor visibility.
After the flight landed at the Danang International Airport at 9.30 p.m., the passengers received meals in the airport and waited for new announcements. After a two-hour wait, Vietjet announced that the passengers could check into hotels before boarding another flight on Friday.
It was not until 1.00 a.m. today, February 18, that the passengers on board flight VJ168 were assigned hotel rooms.
Many Vietnam Airlines and Bamboo Airways flights were also affected by the bad weather.
Meanwhile, Cat Bi and Vinh airports also prevented flights from touching down due to the bad weather.
Noi Bai International Airport began allowing planes to land again at 4.25 a.m. today, as both the weather and visibility improved.
