16 flights cancelled because off fog

Press, 15 July 1983, Page 5

16 flights cancelled because off fog

Christchurch Airport was an open and shut case yesterday. Fog closed the airport to arrivals from about 4 a.m. yesterday. The airport closed completely about 8 a.m. and did not reopen until 9.40 a.m. Twenty minutes later it was closed again and stayed that way for an hour. About 11 a.m. the airport reopened until 1.30 p.m. After that it remained closed apart from a short time about 3 p.m. when one aircraft landed. The airport was expected to remain closed overnight.

A spokesman for the

Weather Office said that more fog was expected this morning, and was expected to clear by this afternoon.

Mount Cook Airlines reported that all its flights ran but with minor delays. The only international flight scheduled through Christchurch yesterday was a DCB freighter, which was diverted to Auckland. Sixteen Air New Zealand domestic flights in and out of Christchurch were cancelled yesterday. About 3000 passengers were affected by the cancellations but by late yesterday afternoon most of those had been rebooked on

flights today. An airline spokesman said that there were some problems in rebooking passengers to Auckland and the airline was considering a special flight to the city. During the day Air New Zealand had five aircraft arrivals and 10 departures. An airport service supervisor said that the lack of red approach lights at the end of the main runway had not helped. These have been removed to allow work on the runway extension. In a fog slightly lighter than yesterday’s, the lights would allow the airport to open, he said.