ABU DHABI: Abu Dhabi International Airport has resumed landings and take-offs after suspending them on Thursday morning because of a technical problem, a spokeswoman for the airport’s operating company said.

“The operations have resumed, both landings and take-offs,” the spokeswoman for Abu Dhabi Airports Co. told Reuters.

“There was heavy fog so there were some operational challenges,” she added, without elaborating on the problem.

Abu Dhabi carrier Etihad Airways said all flights into Abu Dhabi were temporarily diverted to other airports in the region, and that while departures had now resumed, significant delays were expected for the time being.

The airline anticipates that operations at the airport will not completely return to normal for about 24 hours, it said.

An airline statement said: “Etihad Airways would like to apologize to all passengers who were on board flights which had to divert to alternative airports across the GCC region on Thursday morning due to a technical failure of the runway landing systems at Abu Dhabi International Airport.”

It added: “More than 30 flights were diverted, with 14 of those landing at Al Ain Airport. This airport serves as a technical diversion airport only and has limited customs clearance or immigration facilities. As a result, transit passengers or those without visas for the UAE were unable to disembark.”

The airline said: “The situation, which was beyond our control, was further compounded by the limited catering facilities at the airport. As a result, we were not able to provide the level of care and service we would normally hope to deliver.”

Etihad Airways added: “We are doing everything to rectify this unfortunate situation and assisting passengers to minimize the inconvenience resulting from the disruption to their flights. Passengers are being assisted with onward connections or hotel accommodation in the case of long connections.”