Plane diverted to Mattala due to bad weather

An Emirates flight which was scheduled to land at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) this evening was diverted to the Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport (MRIA) due to the adverse weather conditions, the MRIA manager Upul Kalansuriya said.

He said the Emirates EK 652 had arrived from Dubai via Male.

"After opening the MRIA since 2013 this is the first time that an Emirates passenger fight arrived at the airport," Mr. Kalansooriya said.

The flight landed at MRIA at 6.57 p.m. 

The BIA duty manager said the flight was scheduled to land at Katunayake at 6.20 p.m.

"At the time of diverting, 76 passengers were on board. No one was allowed to disembark the flight and the flight will leave for BIA after refuelling," Mr. Kalansuiya added. (Chaturanga Samarawickrama)

Earlier flights diversions as follows: