Several flights from Sentani International Airport in Jayapura\nregency to destinations across Papua, including Timika in Central Papua,\nWamena in the Highlands Papua province, and Sorong in Southwest Papua,\nhave been delayed because of haze from forest and land fires.<\/p>\n
On Monday (12 October), Syahrial, a spokesman for Sentani\nInternational Airport in Jayapura, said several airlines had been forced\nto delay departures to destinations affected by the fires\u2019 smoke.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is true that, because of the haze from the fires, several\ndepartures have been delayed, particularly flights to the three cities\nserved from Sentani Airport: Timika, Wamena and Sorong,\u201d he said on\nMonday, as quoted by Antara.<\/p>\n
Syahrial said information received by the airport showed that Lion\nAir, Garuda, Wings Air, Trigana Air and Sriwijaya Air had all\ntemporarily delayed flights.<\/p>\n
The delayed services included Lion Air flight JT-985 from Jayapura to\nTimika (DJJ-TIM), Garuda Indonesia flight GA653 on the same route, Wings\nAir flight IW1635 from Jayapura to Wamena (DJJ-WMX), Lion Air flight\nJT799 from Jayapura to Sorong (DJJ-SOQ), and Sriwijaya Air flights SJ876\nfrom Jayapura to Wamena and SJ789 from Jayapura to Timika.<\/p>\n
Passengers waited at Sentani Airport for further updates.<\/p>\n
Separately, Trigana Papua deputy area manager Irwan Rochendi said\nflights to Wamena had operated on Monday after an initial delay.<\/p>\n
\u201cFlights to Wamena, both passenger and cargo services, operated at\naround 12 noon WIT after being delayed,\u201d Irwan said.<\/p>\n
He said flights to Dekai had also been delayed, as had services to\ndestinations in South Papua, including Tanah Merah in Boven Digoel\nregency, Merauke, Mappi regency and Ewer in Asmat regency.<\/p>\n
\u201cServices to Tanah Merah have been suspended since Friday (9 October)\nbecause visibility was only around 300 metres,\u201d Irwan said.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Rendani Class II Airport in Manokwari, West Papua, has\nprioritised flight safety amid disruptions caused by wildfire haze from\nsurrounding areas and South Papua.<\/p>\n
Rendani airport head Herman Sujito said the haze had reduced\nvisibility below aviation safety requirements, frequently resulting in\ncancellations and schedule changes.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom late September through October, delays and cancellations have\nincreased because of reduced visibility,\u201d he said on Monday, as quoted\nby Antara.<\/p>\n
He said flights operated smoothly on Friday (9 October), with 599\narriving and departing passengers. However, haze covered the area around\nRendani Airport again on Saturday (10 October), forcing all flights to\nbe cancelled.<\/p>\n
Similar conditions occurred from Sunday morning until midday (11\nOctober), changing several routes to and from Manokwari. At around\n10.30pm WIT, one airline from the Lion Group managed to land.<\/p>\n
\u201cOn Sunday, two airlines that were due to land in the morning were\ndelayed and managed to land in the afternoon. Another airline landed at\nnight and flew out again early on Monday,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
On Monday, he said, only flights to and from Sorong in Southwest\nPapua were cancelled because haze there was reducing pilot visibility;\nservices to other areas returned to normal.<\/p>\n
Flight schedules will be adjusted in line with the latest weather\nreports from the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG)\nand the visibility thresholds required for safe operations.<\/p>\n
\u201cToday, only flights to and from Sorong are affected, because haze is\ncovering the area,\u201d Herman said on Monday.<\/p>\n
He said airlines would provide passengers with full refunds without\ndeductions or help them reschedule, as the cancellations were caused by\ncircumstances beyond human control.<\/p>\n
The public was urged to understand the situation and regularly check\nofficial BMKG weather updates before deciding to travel by air.<\/p>\n
\u201cManokwari has been affected by wildfire haze from Fakfak and Teluk\nBintuni regencies in West Papua, as well as Merauke regency in South\nPapua. We hope the public can understand the situation,\u201d Herman\nsaid.<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/several-flights-in-papua-disrupted-by-lingering-wildfire-haze-1791885181", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }