(MENAFN- Muscat Daily) Muscat was enveloped by haze on Saturday as a massive dust storm – the sultanate's biggest in over a decade - hit the city.
Flights were delayed at Muscat International Airport where visibility dropped to 500m. Visibility was recorded at 950m in other parts of the city causing traffic to slow down to a crawl.
The Met office has said that there will be no rain due to this phenomenon.
'This has been the biggest dust storm recorded since 2003. Though such storms occur occasionally in the country this is the biggest till now.'
The northeasterly winds from the deserts of southern Iran are causing the dust storm. 'This is a normal annual phenomenon. It usually brings rain. But it hasn't rained this year to control the dust. The dust is expected to gradually settle down by Sunday morning' a senior official from the Directorate General of Air Navigation under the Public Authority for Civil Aviation (PACA) said.
Sharqiyah North and South Batinah and Musandam have been affected the most where visibility recorded was 300m. PACA has asked motorists to be cautious and the ROP has urged fishermen not to venture into sea. According to the Oman Airports Management Company website Oman Air flights from Doha Kuwait and Dubai were delayed. An official from Air India said two flights arrived behind schedule.
The flight from Kozhikode scheduled to arrive at 12noon landed at 1.10pm. The flight from Mangalore arrived an hour late via Abu Dhabi. It landed at 3:45pm instead of 2:40pm and took off at 4:25pm. All flights of Jet Airways were on schedule.
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