Two AirAsia flights which were scheduled to land at the Sibu Airport have been diverted to Bintulu Aiport due to limited visibility caused by thick fog today.

Sibu Airport manager Zainuddin Abu Nasir said that the affected flights were AK6462 flight from Kuching, which was scheduled to land at 7.55am, while AK5876 flight from Kuala Lumpur was scheduled to arrive at 9.55am.

Both aircraft later arrived safely in Sibu at 10.20 am and 10.48 am respectively when visibility improved, he said when contacted by Bernama in Kuching.

He added a Malaysia Airlines (MAS) flight from Kota Kinabalu which was scheduled to arrive in Sibu at 9.10am, also had to hover in the air, and only landed about half an hour later due to limited visibility.

Zainuddin said that between 6am and 10pm today, the Sibu Airport was expected to handle 13 flights for departure and arrival.

However the airport had, until now, not received any application from any airline wishing to extend the airport operational hours.

He said if necessary, Malaysia Airports would provide assistance to any airline for the benefit of all parties.

Meanwhile, an officer on duty at the Kuching International Airport told Bernama that to date, four MAS flights and one AirAsia flight which were scheduled to land at the airport, were experiencing delays due to bad weather.

- Bernama