Two flights diverted to MRIA due to bad weather

By Chaturanga Samarwickrama and T.K.G. Kapila  

Two flights which were scheduled to land at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA), Katunayake were diverted to Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport (MRIA) last morning due to the adverse weather condition, the MRIA duty manager said. 

He said the A-320 type airbuses,  Qatar Airways QR-662 and Air Arabia G9-503, had arrived from Doha and the Sharjah International Airport respectively.  

“The Qatar Airways QR-662 flight was scheduled to land at the BIA at 2.45 a.m and it was diverted to MRIA and landed there at 3.16 a.m. The Air Arabia G9-503 was scheduled to land at BIA at 2.50 a.m and after it was diverted to the MRIA it landed at 3.32 a.m.,” the duty manager said.  

He said 155 people including both passengers and crew members were on board the two flights.   

Later the flights were returned to the BIA after the bad weather condition was cleared. The QR-662 flight left from MRIA at 4.53 a.m and landed at BIA at 5.39 a.m. The G9-503 flight left from MRIA at 4.34 a.m and landed at BIA at 5.15 a.m.  

Both flights were re-fuelled with 84,000 litres of jet fuel each, the duty manager added.