KATHMANDU: Domestic and International flight services have been hit due to poor visibility caused by air pollution in the Kathmandu Valley since early Saturday.

At least a 1,600-meter visibility is necessary for landings and take-offs for the aircraft. Currently, there is only a 1,000-meter visibility at the Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA), the only international airport of Nepal, since early today, said TIA.

Both the domestic and international planes have been grounded since early morning today even though the regular flight service is supposed to begin at 6 am in normal condition.

“As things stand, we cannot immediately say when the flight services will resume. We are monitoring the visibility,” said an official at the TIA.

An airbus of Himalaya Airlines could not land at the TIA due to poor visibility and was forced to divert to India this morning, informed Raj Kumar Chhetri, the spokesperson for the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN).

Similarly, two airbuses of Himalaya Airlines coming from Malaysia and Dubai are taking a hold in the air.

According to Chhetri, as many as 22 domestic flights were cancelled due to poor visibility and an airbus flying to Nepal from Hong Kong had been diverted to Delhi and then back to Hong Kong on Friday evening.

Likewise, an airbus of FlyDubai had been diverted to Lucknow on Friday night. The sky of Kathmandu Valley has been covered in thick mists and fogs, resulting in poor visibility since Friday afternoon.

Issuing a special bulletin today, the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology stated that the concentration of dust particles in the atmosphere is excessively high, resulting in the poor visiblity.

Meteorologist Sabina Shakya said the misty atmosphere will not clear until for some days.