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Hanoi Flights Halted as City Faces Worsening Air Pollution 

A man fishes at a lake on a foggy morning in Hanoi on February 2, 2024. (AFP)
A man fishes at a lake on a foggy morning in Hanoi on February 2, 2024. (AFP)
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Hanoi Flights Halted as City Faces Worsening Air Pollution 

A man fishes at a lake on a foggy morning in Hanoi on February 2, 2024. (AFP)
A man fishes at a lake on a foggy morning in Hanoi on February 2, 2024. (AFP)

All flights to and from the international airport in Vietnam's capital Hanoi have been delayed or diverted to other cities on Friday due to heavy fog and worsening air pollution, said an airport official.

Air Visual, an independent online air quality index monitor, said Hanoi's levels of hazardous small particles known as PM2.5 in the air were at an extreme high of 257 micrograms per cubic meter early on Friday.

"All incoming flights are being diverted to other cities, including Haiphong or Danang. None can take off either at the moment," an official at Noi Bai International Airport said, declining to be named.

Nearly 100 flights to and from the airport have been affected, state media reported, citing the airport authorities.

Vietnam's budget airline Vietjet on Friday said several of its flights scheduled to land in Hanoi had been diverted to land in Haiphong City.

Air pollution in Hanoi has constantly been ranked among the world's highest, with health authorities last month advising people to wear masks and limit outdoor activities.

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Varieties

European Satellite Launcher Set for First Commercial Blast Off

This handout satellite image made available on February 11, 2025 by the European Space Agency and captured by the Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission on April 02, 2024, shows the Amsterdam Island, that is part of France's French Southern and Antarctic Lands in the Indian Ocean. (Photo by Handout / COPERNICUS SENTINEL-2 / AFP)
This handout satellite image made available on February 11, 2025 by the European Space Agency and captured by the Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission on April 02, 2024, shows the Amsterdam Island, that is part of France's French Southern and Antarctic Lands in the Indian Ocean. (Photo by Handout / COPERNICUS SENTINEL-2 / AFP)
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European Satellite Launcher Set for First Commercial Blast Off

This handout satellite image made available on February 11, 2025 by the European Space Agency and captured by the Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission on April 02, 2024, shows the Amsterdam Island, that is part of France's French Southern and Antarctic Lands in the Indian Ocean. (Photo by Handout / COPERNICUS SENTINEL-2 / AFP)
This handout satellite image made available on February 11, 2025 by the European Space Agency and captured by the Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission on April 02, 2024, shows the Amsterdam Island, that is part of France's French Southern and Antarctic Lands in the Indian Ocean. (Photo by Handout / COPERNICUS SENTINEL-2 / AFP)

After several postponements, Europe's Ariane 6 launcher will carry out its first commercial mission on Monday when it puts a French military intelligence satellite into space.

The launch from the Kourou base in French Guiana is key to Europe's efforts to build up its security autonomy amid the shocks caused by the US-Russia diplomatic rapprochement.

"The whole world is watching us," Arianespace chief executive David Cavailloles told AFP this month.

Ariane 5 was retired in 2023 and Europe has not been able to use Russia's Soyuz rocket for satellite launches since Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

Ariane 6 underwent a successful test in July last year and is scheduled to carry out five launches this year.

First scheduled in December, the launch was put back until February 26 and then March 3 because of problems getting the satellite to the Kourou base, according to Arianespace.

"All launches have risks. Problems can happen with the launcher, with the satellite. We make sure that everything is ready and if it needs a few extra weeks, a few extra months, it is not a problem," said Lionel Suchet, head of France's National Center for Space Studies (CNES).

Given the military role of the satellite being put into space, strict security precautions are being taken to limit access at the base while three Rafale fighter jets will patrol the surrounding skies.

"The satellite has to be protected. It has special instruments that must not be seen by just anybody," said Catherine Leveau, CNES director of space transport.

The CSO-3 satellite will complete a network of three French military satellites, with the first two launched in 2018 and 2020 by Soyuz.

The satellites "strengthen" France's military autonomy, according to CNES defence consultant Philippe Steininger.

Some of the images taken by CSO-3 will be shared with the German and Belgian militaries that have invested in the satellites.

Sweden also has access to some images in exchange for letting France use its space research center near the Arctic town of Kiruna.