Revellers in northern Thailand have been asked not to launch sky lanterns near airports to avoid airborne accidents during a popular festival.

Chiang Mai's Air Traffic Control Centre said it had declared a 4.8km restricted zone around the airport where lanterns are banned from Wednesday to Friday, when the Loy Krathong festival takes place.

During the festival, Thais float small rafts into rivers to ask for forgiveness from the goddess of water.

Tradition also says that flying the floating lanterns will rid them of bad fortune, but it has posed aviation risks in recent years.

Several airlines, including Thai Airways, have even adjusted their flight schedules to give way to the lantern floating, which takes place mainly after dark.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.