Aircraft diverted by fog from flights to Anchorage or Kodiak — including a trio of Ravn Alaska DeHaviland Dash Eights, two of which are pictured here — sit in front of the Kenai Municipal Airport terminal on Thursday, Nov. 2, 2017 in Kenai, Alaska. Fog throughout the Cook Inlet region has been hampering flight schedules all week — on Monday and Tuesday it grounded planes at the Kenai airport; shifting northward later in the week, it has prevented landings in Anchorage. (Ben Boettger/Peninsula Clarion)

Aircraft diverted by fog from flights to Anchorage or Kodiak — including a trio of Ravn Alaska DeHaviland Dash Eights, two of which are pictured here — sit in front of the Kenai Municipal Airport terminal on Thursday, Nov. 2, 2017 in Kenai, Alaska. Fog throughout the Cook Inlet region has been hampering flight schedules all week — on Monday and Tuesday it grounded planes at the Kenai airport; shifting northward later in the week, it has prevented landings in Anchorage. (Ben Boettger/Peninsula Clarion)

Fog brings traffic through Kenai airport

Fog rolling up and down the Cook Inlet region has been keeping flights on the ground this week, both at the Kenai Municipal Airport and the Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport.

“If it’s not here, it’s in Anchorage; if it’s not in Anchorage, it’s here,” Kenai Municipal Airport manager Mary Bondurant said of the fog.

On Monday, Bondurant was in Anchorage herself, and scheduled to fly back to Kenai. Her flight didn’t depart, however, because fog surrounding the Kenai airport made landing unsafe, and she ended up driving instead.

ADVERTISEMENT
0 seconds of 0 secondsVolume 0%
Press shift question mark to access a list of keyboard shortcuts
00:00
00:00
00:00
 

By Tuesday evening, however, the fog was rolling north. On Wednesday visibility at the fogged-in Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport kept flights from landing there.

Wednesday saw some flights to Anchorage landing in Kenai, “but they weren’t on the ground that long,” Bondurant said. On Thursday, she said the Kenai airport started getting diversions of Anchorage-bound flights around noon, and by around 1:30 p.m. there were seven planes waiting on the apron outside the terminal, where their passengers napped, ate, idled and investigated the option of taking rental cars to Anchorage.

The planes sitting on Kenai’s terminal apron were smaller in-state flights — some bound to Anchorage from Dutch Harbor and Kodiak, Bondurant said, and seating 20–37 passengers. Though Kenai’s apron could accommodate larger aircraft, flights seating more than 60 would have to keep their passengers aboard if diverted to the Kenai airport, which lacks the Transportation Safety Administration screening team legally required to disembark that number of passengers. Larger Anchorage-bound flights were diverted to Fairbanks.

For business owners in the airport, the hungry travelers were a windfall. Co-owner Tammy Olson of the airport restaurant Double O Express said she was “tired but happy” after she and her employees spent the past two days rushing. After a summer tourist season that failed to bring the traffic she’d expected, Olson said those two days had also been the best of the year for Double O Express.

Around 2 p.m., the visibility began improving in Anchorage. Two of the waiting Anchorage-bound flights took off with the hope that conditions would hold until their arrival.

One was able to land in Anchorage, Bondurant said later. The other had to return. However, all the diverted planes had departed by 5 p.m. — around the time fog started creeping back to Kenai.

Reach Ben Boettger at ben.boettger@peninsulaclarion.com.

More in News

Jason Criss stands for a photo in Soldotna, Alaska, after being named a qualifier for the Special Olympics USA Games on Thursday, July 10, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Soldotna athlete to compete in 2026 Special Olympics USA Games

Thousands of athletes from across all 50 states will be competing in 16 sports.

The entrance to the Homer Electric Association office is seen here in Kenai, Alaska on May 7, 2020. (Photo by Brian Mazurek/Peninsula Clarion)
HEA opens bids for real property

The deadline to submit bids is 5 p.m. on Aug. 11.

Arturo Mondragon-Lopez, Jr. (right) attends a change of plea hearing related to the October 2023 fatal shooting of Brianna Hetrick on Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025, at the Homer Courthouse in Homer, Alaska. (Delcenia Cosman/Homer News)
Mondragon-Lopez sentenced for death of Homer woman

Arturo Mondragon-Lopez, Jr. accepted a plea deal in February for the shooting of Brianna Hetrick.

Soldotna City Hall is seen on Wednesday, June 23, 2021 in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Soldotna OKs $395,000 capital plan

This year’s list of capital projects is “nominal compared to some past years,” according to officials.

A map of areas proposed for annexation by the City of Soldotna. (Provided by City of Soldotna)
Soldotna adds annexation proposal to ballot

The proposed annexation is split across five small areas around the city.

Nets are extended from North Kenai Beach in Kenai, Alaska, during the first day of the Kenai River personal use dipnet fishery on Thursday, July 10, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
‘A really good day’

Kenai River personal use sockeye salmon dipnet fishery opens.

The entrance to the Kenai Peninsula Borough building in Soldotna is seen here on June 1. (Photo by Brian Mazurek/Peninsula Clarion)
Borough assembly to consider ordinance to increase residential property tax exemption

If approved by voters in October, the ordinance would increase the tax exemption by $25,000.

Vice President Kelly Cooper speaks during a meeting of the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly in Soldotna, Alaska, on Tuesday, July 8, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Borough considers seasonal sales tax rate

Borough sales tax would be modified from a flat 3% to a seasonal model of 4% in summer months and 2% in winter months.

Most Read

You're browsing in private mode.
Please sign in or subscribe to continue reading articles in this mode.

Peninsula Clarion relies on subscription revenue to provide local content for our readers.

Subscribe

Already a subscriber? Please sign in