Several Flights in Papua Disrupted by Lingering Wildfire Haze
Several flights from Sentani International Airport in Jayapura regency to destinations across Papua, including Timika in Central Papua, Wamena in the Highlands Papua province, and Sorong in Southwest Papua, have been delayed because of haze from forest and land fires.
On Monday (12 October), Syahrial, a spokesman for Sentani International Airport in Jayapura, said several airlines had been forced to delay departures to destinations affected by the fires’ smoke.
“It is true that, because of the haze from the fires, several departures have been delayed, particularly flights to the three cities served from Sentani Airport: Timika, Wamena and Sorong,” he said on Monday, as quoted by Antara.
Syahrial said information received by the airport showed that Lion Air, Garuda, Wings Air, Trigana Air and Sriwijaya Air had all temporarily delayed flights.
The delayed services included Lion Air flight JT-985 from Jayapura to Timika (DJJ-TIM), Garuda Indonesia flight GA653 on the same route, Wings Air flight IW1635 from Jayapura to Wamena (DJJ-WMX), Lion Air flight JT799 from Jayapura to Sorong (DJJ-SOQ), and Sriwijaya Air flights SJ876 from Jayapura to Wamena and SJ789 from Jayapura to Timika.
Passengers waited at Sentani Airport for further updates.
Separately, Trigana Papua deputy area manager Irwan Rochendi said flights to Wamena had operated on Monday after an initial delay.
“Flights to Wamena, both passenger and cargo services, operated at around 12 noon WIT after being delayed,” Irwan said.
He said flights to Dekai had also been delayed, as had services to destinations in South Papua, including Tanah Merah in Boven Digoel regency, Merauke, Mappi regency and Ewer in Asmat regency.
“Services to Tanah Merah have been suspended since Friday (9 October) because visibility was only around 300 metres,” Irwan said.
Meanwhile, Rendani Class II Airport in Manokwari, West Papua, has prioritised flight safety amid disruptions caused by wildfire haze from surrounding areas and South Papua.
Rendani airport head Herman Sujito said the haze had reduced visibility below aviation safety requirements, frequently resulting in cancellations and schedule changes.
“From late September through October, delays and cancellations have increased because of reduced visibility,” he said on Monday, as quoted by Antara.
He said flights operated smoothly on Friday (9 October), with 599 arriving and departing passengers. However, haze covered the area around Rendani Airport again on Saturday (10 October), forcing all flights to be cancelled.
Similar conditions occurred from Sunday morning until midday (11 October), changing several routes to and from Manokwari. At around 10.30pm WIT, one airline from the Lion Group managed to land.
“On Sunday, two airlines that were due to land in the morning were delayed and managed to land in the afternoon. Another airline landed at night and flew out again early on Monday,” he said.
On Monday, he said, only flights to and from Sorong in Southwest Papua were cancelled because haze there was reducing pilot visibility; services to other areas returned to normal.
Flight schedules will be adjusted in line with the latest weather reports from the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) and the visibility thresholds required for safe operations.
“Today, only flights to and from Sorong are affected, because haze is covering the area,” Herman said on Monday.
He said airlines would provide passengers with full refunds without deductions or help them reschedule, as the cancellations were caused by circumstances beyond human control.
The public was urged to understand the situation and regularly check official BMKG weather updates before deciding to travel by air.
“Manokwari has been affected by wildfire haze from Fakfak and Teluk Bintuni regencies in West Papua, as well as Merauke regency in South Papua. We hope the public can understand the situation,” Herman said.