Planes entering Kenyan airspace through Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) were on Thursday diverted to Moi International Airport and Kilimanjaro International Airport in Tanzania due to heavy fog that blanketed Nairobi skies.
The Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA) has, however, confirmed that flight operations have resumed following an improvement in weather conditions.
Speaking exclusively to Kenyans.co.ke, KCAA confirmed that the earlier diversions had been resolved and planes were once again landing at JKIA.
''The diversion that was there has been corrected. Everything is back to normal as the fog has cleared and we are back on course," KCAA confirmed to Kenyans.co.ke on the phone.
''All departures and arrivals are on course as per the different flight schedules.''
Following the weather conditions, hundreds of passengers who had scheduled morning flights were forced to wait for long hours for their flights.
Local and major international flight service providers later issued apologies to their customers following the incident.
The foggy conditions came shortly after a weather update by the Kenya Meteorological Department, which had forecast on Tuesday that Nairobi would experience cold night temperatures dropping below 9°C for most of the week.
In the morning, several parts of Nairobi were covered in fog, impairing vision on the roads. During these adverse weather conditions, drivers were warned to take precautions to avoid incidents.
Plane diversions are a normal issue across major international airports, often due to bad weather and major breakdown incidents.
Foggy conditions often cause poor visibility for pilots, a factor that affects the landing and takeoff of planes.
On July 24 last year, flights were also diverted from JKIA to Moi International Airport (MIA) and Kilimanjaro International Airport (KIA) in Tanzania due to similar weather conditions. Currently, only MIA and JKIA are equipped to handle international landings in the region.
