Muscat: Flight to Goa from Muscat has been diverted to Bangalore due to bad weather, Oman Air said in a tweet on its official twitter handle.
“Flight from MCT-GOI 01OCT16 Has Diverted to BLR due to bad weather at GOI till further notice. We will keep you updated,” the tweet read.
"All passengers are accommodated in hotel till further update on new flight timings. Thank you for your understanding," the airline tweeted.
According to Indian media reports, a combination of bad weather and now low lying clouds has forced the Airport Authority of India (AAI) to divert all incoming flights from Goa's Dabolim airport to nearby airports as well as to delay outbound flights.
Six flights, including the first chartered flight of the tourist season from Russia, were diverted to Bangalore and Mumbai today as thick fog enveloped the Goa International Airport at Dabolim in South Goa.
"Three international and domestic flights each were diverted this morning to Mumbai and Bangalore airports as visibility continued to be very low," Dabolim Airport Director B C H Negi.
Flights from Sharjah, Muscat and a chartered flight from Moscow had to be diverted to Bangalore, he said.
Two flights that had arrived from Bangalore and one from Mumbai were sent back to their respective airports.
The first chartered flight operated by Concord Exotic Voyages (P) Ltd, carrying the first batch of nearly 500 tourists from Russia would have marked the onset of the tourist season in Goa.
Negi said the visibility continues to be low at the Dabolim airport and situation is being constantly monitored by the airport authorities.
Quoting an AAI spokesperson, the reports added that no flights have been cancelled.
“Passenger flights, including a charter flight, are being diverted to nearest airports from 4.30 am due to bad visibility. When the directed flights arrived back a couple of hours ago, we had to divert them again due to low lying clouds which made landing difficult," the AAI spokesperson at Goa's Dabolim international airport told reporters.
With inputs from agencies