Fog halts flights, ferry services

Flight operations at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (HSIA) in Dhaka had remained disrupted for six hours since early Sunday due to dense fog, reports agencies.

The low visibility also caused road vehicles to slow down. Ferry and launch services at major ports had also remained halted for several hours due to the fog.

A mild to moderate cold wave is sweeping over Rangpur and Rajshahi divisions and the regions of Satkhira, Jessore, Kushtia, Tangail, Madaripur and Gopalganj, according to a Met office release issued on Sunday morning.

The current cold wave condition is likely to abate at some more places by this morning, said the release.

The fog caused cancelation of all domestic flights and diversion of one international flight.

"HSIA was blanketed with thick fog leading to diversion of the Kuala Lumpur -Dhaka fight of  Biman Bangladesh Airlines to Kolkata. Besides, all domestic flights were cancelled as the runway visibility dropped since 5.10 am," Rezaul Karim, Public Relations Officer of the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB), said.

Poor runway visibility forced the airport authorities to stop both inbound and outbound flight operations, the officer said adding that a domestic flight left the airport after 11:00 am as fog disappeared.

Flight operations at the airport had been suspended for over three and a half hours from 2:10 am to 5:50 am since January 1 due to the runway's renovation work. And it would continue until March 31, said the CAAB official.

The Daulatdia-Paturia ferry service between Rajbari and Manikganj was suspended at 4:00am and the Shimulia-Kathalbari ferry from Munshiganj to Madaripur has halted at 6:00am.

According to the Weather Office, Satkhira, Jessore, Kushtia, Tangail, Madaripur, Gopalganj areas and the Rangpur and Rajshahi Divisions are experiencing a mild to moderate cold wave.

The cold wave is forecast to last a bit over a week, and is expected to lift in some parts of the country next Sunday.