Flights to northern Vietnam airport canceled due to field burning smoke from Laos
Saturday, March 25, 2023, 13:33 GMT+7
A dense cloud of smoke caused by field burning shrouded Dien Bien Airport in the eponymous province in northern Vietnam on Friday, resulting in many flight cancelations and detours.
The smoke spreading from Laos, where farmers have been burning fields to clear them for the next crop, accompanied by fog made visibility decline considerably at Dien Bien Airport, according to a leader of the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV).
Consequently, one flight between Dien Bien and Ho Chi Minh City and two flights connecting Hanoi with the mountainous province, all of which were operated by Bamboo Airways, were canceled.
Another flight from Ho Chi Minh City to Dien Bien was forced to make a detour to Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi, from which its passengers were later transferred to the province by buses.
VASCO, a subsidiary of Vietnam Airlines, also called off four flights between Hanoi and Dien Bien on the same day.
This is not the first time that dense field burning smoke from Laos has affected flights to Dien Bien Airport, which is scheduled to be temporarily shut from April 15 to December 17 for an upgrade and expansion.
Many flights to the airport were also canceled on April 11, 2022 due to the same problem.
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