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Business News of Sunday, 27 December 2015
Source: citifmonline.com
File photo
Domestic airline operators have been urged to ground their flights as the harmattan season intensifies.
According to the Meteorological Service, the harmattan has reduced visibility to just a few hundred meters making it difficult for airplanes to land or take off.
The Service told Citi News it is risky to use all airports in Ghana except the Kotoka International Airport.
Airlines were forced to halt operations in the first week of December due to bad weather.
Ghana’s harmattan season, which comes with cold and dryness particularly in the mornings, started becoming visible on Tuesday December 1.
Speaking to Citi News, Assistant Meteorologist at the Ghana Meteor Service, Sarbeng Emmanuel said, motorists must also be cautious during this period.
“The harmattan from last Thursday intensified and visibility across the country significantly reduced. At the moment, places around the northern part of the country are recording as low as 100 metres of visibility. The middle part of the country looks a bit better, some places recording 300 and 400 metres visibility. The coastal parts of Accra are recording visibility value of 800 metres, as at now.”
According to Sarbeng Emmanuel the situation “will affect operation of airlines.”
He explained that “when the visibility goes beyond 3000 metres operations of airlines are halted.”
“So once the visibility has reduced, motorists are to be cautious because it becomes difficult even seeing a vehicle ahead of you when you are driving. This particular situation is going to continue for at least two days before the visibility improves a bit,” he added.
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