Major Airlines cancel flight due to poor visibility

Accra, Jan. 9, GNA - Some major international airlines operating at the Kotoka International Airport (KIA) have cancelled their flights for Saturday, whilst others have delayed flights into Accra due to poor visibility over the Accra Flight Information Region.

Airlines such as the British Airways, South Africa Airways and Bellview Airlines have cancelled their flights outright, while Lufthansa and Kenyan Airlines have delayed flights into Accra.

Officials of these Airlines told the GNA that the weather conditions on the West Coast of Africa was not conducive for smooth flight into Accra and added that, flight operations would resume on Sunday if the weather conditions improve.

In an interview with the Senior Meteorologist at KIA, Mr Peter Akabu said visibility all over the West Africa Region was very poor due to widespread dusty haze.

He said the harmattan had set in a bit late and its intensity was expected to subside by next week.

Mr Akabu said normally the harmattan conditions set in at the end of November and get intense during the Christmas season and subside thereafter.

Giving statistics of the harmattan conditions, Mr Akabu said visibility is less than one Kilometre over the entire sub-region. Visibility over Accra is 400 metres, Lome 600 metres, Cotonou 400 metres and Abidjan 800 metres.