Bhubaneswar: Flight operations at the Biju Patnaik International Airport (BPIA) here were affected Friday due to dense fog bringing down the visibility level below 100 metres, a senior Airports Authority of India (AAI) official said.
A New Delhi-Bhubaneswar IndiGo flight was diverted to Raipur because of low visibility, BPIA Director P R Beuria said, adding that this was the first instance this winter of a flight being diverted to another destination due to fog.
The flight, scheduled to arrive here at 6.30 AM, reached BPIA at 9.30 AM. Normalcy returned to flight operations after the fog cleared, he said.
Thick fog had covered several parts of the state capital since early morning.
The Regional Meteorological Centre, Bhubaneswar, said that visibility had dropped to below 100 metres in several places due to very dense fog.
It tweeted photographs of dense fog on Jaydev Vihar flyover, Niladri Vihar and Patia, among several places where motorists were seen driving with headlights of their vehicles on. Apart from flight operations, vehicular traffic was also affected due to fog.
The weatherman also forecast moderate rainfall, under the influence of western disturbance, from Friday till January 25.
PTI
