Janakpur, January 14 :

Flights to and from Janakpur airport were suspended today due to inclement weather.

Several senior leaders of the seven-party alliance, including Girija Prasad Koirala, CPN-UML general secretary Madhav Kumar Nepal, acting president of NC-D Gopal Man Shrestha had to take recourse to the road route, said party sources.

Heavy fog hampered visibility, causing flights to be cancelled, said Pawan Gautam, assistant manager of the airport. Buddha Air operates three flights while Gorkha Air operates two flights from this airport on normal days. Meanwhile, a report from Birgunj said all flights to and from Simra airport of Bara district were cancelled due to dense fog today. Flights were suspended due to zero visibility on the runway, said Mohammad Ali Hasan, traffic controller of the airport.

Technicians at the airport said flights would be resumed tomorrow if the weather permitted. Due to cancellations, airlines are incurring heavy losses because this is peak tourist arrival season, mainly from India. Flights have been irregular since the past one week due to the fog. Tourists have been affected due to cancellation of flights, said Ratna Rai, station manager of Buddha Air.

A report from Jhapa said flights were suspended from Bhadrapur airport yesterday and today as well. Due to the cancellation, Sister Nirmala who was bound for Kathmandu had to reach here on a microbus. Flights were also hampered at Bharatpur airport today following

bad weather, said Raj Kumar Chhetry, airport manager. Our Biratnagar-based correspondent quoted the airport chief as saying that flights were suspended to and from Biratnagar airport today.