Islamabad, Aug 31: KARACHI: As a result of the severe weather that makes flying planes during cyclone Asna difficult, a number of flights from Karachi to both local and foreign locations have been delayed, according to sources cited by ARY News.
The aircraft PK-308 operated by Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) from Karachi to Islamabad experienced a delay of seven hours. The PK-309 PIA flight from Islamabad to Karachi is running four hours behind schedule. The flight from Karachi to Multan has also been postponed by four hours.
Similar to domestic travel, international travel has also been impacted. For example, a private airline’s trip from Karachi to Jeddah was eight hours late.
According to sources with the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (PCCA), the inclement weather in the nation is to blame for the aircraft delays.
Prior to this, the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) reported that storm Asna was intensifying from a possible cyclone that had formed over the Indian Rann of Kutch.
According to the meteorology department’s fourth advisory, the cyclone is currently located approximately 170 km south/southeast of Karachi and 88 km south of Kati Bandar, at latitude 23.5 N and longitude 67.9 E.
Most likely, the system will continue to move initially west/northwest.
Up until August 31, the following districts in Karachi division, Tharparker, Badin, Thatta, Sujawal, Hyderabad, T.M. Khan, T.A. Yar, Matiari, Umerkot, Mirpurkhas, Sanghar, Jamshoro, Dadu, and Shaheed Benazirabad district are likely to experience widespread rain/wind-thunderstorms with scattered heavy/very heavy and isolated extremely heavy falls.
In the districts of Hub, Lasbella, Awaran, Keach, and Gwadar, “widespread rain/wind-thunderstorm with scattered heavy/very heavy and isolated extremely heavy falls also likely during 30 August to 1st September with occasional gaps,” the PMD reports.