Haze disrupts flights in Jambi and Pekanbaru
Puji Santoso and Jon Afrizal, The Jakarta Post/Pekanbaru/Jambi
Thick haze from cropland and forest fires continued to worsen in Riau and Jambi on Tuesday, disrupting more than 10 flights to and from the two provinces, as well interfering with the activities of residents.
A number of flights were also disrupted by haze in Jambi on Monday.
On Tuesday, at least eight planes had to delay their departures from or arrivals at Sultan Syarif Qasyim II Airport in Pekanbaru, Riau.
"Between 6:30 a.m. to 8 a.m., the airport was very dark with the visibility being reduced to only 50 meters. It's a chaotic situation," said Sutrisno, the director of airport operator PT Angkasa Pura I Pekanbaru.
However, flights resumed after visibility returned to 800 meters by around 9:05 a.m., he added. "The first flight to land at Sultan Syarif Qasyim II Airport was a Lion Air plane."
Other planes forced to delay landing at the same airport included a Merpati flight that should have arrived from Medan, North Sumatra, at 7:30 a.m. It finally managed to touch down at around 9:44 a.m.
A Jatayu plane, scheduled to land at 7:45 a.m., arrived from Medan a half an hour later.
Meanwhile, a Mandala flight that should have departed for Jakarta at 7 a.m., left Pekanbaru 90 minutes later, and a Merpati plane and a Riau Airlines plane had to delay departing for Malaysia by 30 minutes each .
Despite the poor visibility, no flights were canceled or diverted to other airports, Sutrisno said, adding that his office had warned airlines to delay flights both to and from Pekanbaru until after the visibility returned to normal.
However in Jambi, a Sriwijaya Air plane from Jakarta failed to land at around 8:30 a.m., despite repeated attempts. It was later diverted to the airport in Palembang, South Sumatra.
Sultan Thaha Airport director M. Sidabutar said that Jambi governor Zulkifli Nurdin was among the passengers on board the plane.
Other disrupted flights included ones belonging to Mandala Airlines, Jatayu Airlines and Batavia Air, all flying from Jakarta.
"To anticipate the possibility of the situation worsening, we always provide every flight with data on the weather at the airport. It's the prerogative of companies to decide what to do with their flights," Sidabutar said.
Aryana Yasin, the director of the Meteorology and Geophysics Agency's office at Sultan Thaha airport, said the thick haze had reduced the visibility to between 200 and 400 meters.
The normal visibility for flights is between 1.5 and 2.2 kilometers, he added.
"I would ask all pilots to increase their alertness and to always seek directions from the airport before taking off and landing," Aryana said.
Separately, the Jambi Environmental Impact Control Agency (Bapedalda) warned that the air quality in the city had been categorized as dangerous to human health for the last two days.
Many residents were seen wearing masks in the street across Jambi, but local health officials advised them to stay at home to prevent them developing respiratory problems.
Many residents of Pekanbaru were also complaining of thick smoke from forest fires.
Ira Tania alias Mimi, 23, from Rintis subdistrict, said that the haze given both her and her husband coughs.
"My eyes are also sore," she said.