RAWALPINDI: The Islamabad International Airport (IIA) is facing rush of passengers as it has been handling both scheduled flights and those diverted from other airports due to the foggy weather conditions.

Fog and poor visibility-affected flights are being diverted to the IIA from Lahore, Multan and Sialkot.

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA)’s task force constituted to facilitate passengers of diverted, cancelled or delayed flights due to the weather conditions at the IIA has been under pressure, but handling the situation very well, said a CAA spokesman.

He said due to the diverted departure and arrival flights, rush was a natural phenomenon.

Since Dec 21, more than 30 flights landed at IIA from other cities due to fog, says official

“The airport management is dealing with a somewhat difficult situation. The airport has full capacity to deal with all kinds of situations.”

The spokesman said they had accommodated 32 diverted arrival flights and handled 7,030 passengers from December 21 to December 25.

In addition, the CAA accommodated the same 32 flights for departure and handled a flow of more than 7,000 passengers of diverted flights.

He said the CAA had accommodated these flights while maintaining and facilitating the scheduled flights at the IIA without any significant delays or major hurdles.

The CAA has constituted the task force, led by the airport manager, for handling passengers of delayed, cancelled or diverted flights due to foggy weather.

The decision to form the task force was taken for the convenience of passengers of fog-affected flights at major airports of the country.

He said every year in the winter season poor visibility and thick fog caused delays, cancellation or diversion of flights leading to congestion at airports and inconvenience to passengers.

He said the task force was working to ensure coordination with airlines, Federal Investigation Agency and the Airport Security Force for timely clearance of passengers.

It also communicates with the traffic police so that there was no rush in the car parking and pick and drop lanes.

Besides, the task force coordinates with airlines’ staff to make arrangements for accommodation and food and transport facilities for passengers

Providing meteorological information (weather updates) to passengers and airport operators through electronic media for the benefit of passengers and visitors is also among its tasks.

The task force will ensure up-to-date information on flight information display systems and vigilant manpower at the airport during low visibility conditions.

Published in Dawn, December 26th, 2022