On the morning of February 2, Mr. Duc Khoa – working for a media corporation in Ho Chi Minh City – had a business trip to Hanoi. However, at 9am, he posted a status on his personal Facebook account saying “Wait, I’m in Hanoi” with the check-in location at Da Nang International Airport.
Mr. Duc Khoa said he flew on Bamboo Airways flight QH202 from Ho Chi Minh City to Hanoi, departing at 5:30am on February 2 and expected to land at Noi Bai International Airport at 7:40am on the same day. However, the crew announced that due to foggy weather in the capital city, the flight had to temporarily land at Da Nang International Airport.
As of 9:10am today, Mr. Khoa informed reporters that the flight has not received any information about resuming its departure. “I don’t know when I will be able to reach Hanoi, I have missed my plans because of the delay,” the passenger added.
According to a representative from Noi Bai International Airport, thick fog and low cloud cover are limiting the visibility for pilots. From 3am to 9am today, 37 flights could not land at Noi Bai Airport, including 12 flights redirected to nearby airports such as Cat Bi (Hai Phong), and many international flights had to turn back.
And from 4:30am, the largest airport in the North temporarily stopped accepting incoming flights. This led to many domestic flights from other airports having to stop taking off at this airport.
At 9am, there were 54 scheduled flights from Noi Bai that had to delay their departure to wait for better weather.
Due to the weather, a series of flights to and from Noi Bai International Airport (Hanoi) had to adjust their operational plans. Illustrative image.
Flights forced to change takeoff and landing time, destination airports
Around 8am, Vietnam National Airlines – Vietnam Airlines – issued an announcement: Due to the impact of fog and bad weather at airports in Noi Bai (Hanoi), Tho Xuan (Thanh Hoa), Vinh (Nghe An), Phu Bai (Hue), to ensure safe operations, Vietnam Airlines has to adjust the departure time, delaying from 2 to 6 hours for incoming and outgoing flights from these airports in the early morning and morning of February 2.
Specifically, 8 Ho Chi Minh City – Vinh flights: VN7000, VN7004, VN7006, VN7008, VN7012, VN7014, VN7016, and VN7264; 1 Ho Chi Minh City – Thanh Hoa flight VN7278; 1 Ho Chi Minh City – Hue flight VN7540.
“Some domestic and international flights to Noi Bai Airport had to circle in the air or land at alternate airports: Cat Bi or Da Nang,” the announcement stated.
Departing flights from Noi Bai were also delayed. Specifically, nearly 30 other domestic and international flights were affected by the situation, resulting in changes to their schedules.
Vietnam Airlines “regrets having to adjust operational plans due to weather conditions to ensure absolute safety and hopes for the understanding of passengers in this situation”.
Vietnam Airlines also noted that rain and foggy weather may occur in airports in the Northern and Central regions in the coming days, passengers planning to travel to or from provinces in the North during this period should regularly monitor, update flight information and weather conditions.
Bamboo Airways also “sincerely apologizes to valued passengers for this unforeseen weather incident.” The airline, based on the actual situation, the extent of weather impact on flight operations, will make appropriate adjustments to flight schedules.
This morning, Vietjet Air also announced that “to ensure absolute safety for passengers and crew, flights were forced to change their landing destination and adjust schedules”.
Thus, VJ1158 flight from Ho Chi Minh City to Hanoi had to be redirected and landed at Hai Phong Airport at 5:30am. VJ972 flight from New Delhi (India) to Hanoi had to be redirected and landed at Hai Phong Airport at 6:25am. VJ1926 flight from Ahmedabad (India) to Hanoi had to be redirected and is expected to land at Hai Phong Airport at 7:30am.
“Several other flights are also affected. The flights will continue their journey when the weather improves,” Vietjet Air also issued a similar announcement.
