Worsening haze disrupts flights across Indonesia’s Sumatra
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Residents carrying containers of water as a wildfire burns near a residential area in Banyuasin, South Sumatra province, Indonesia, on Oct 7.
PHOTO: REUTERS
- Forest and land fires caused worsening haze across Sumatra, delaying and diverting flights in Palembang, Pekanbaru and Jambi.
- Visibility fell below safe levels at several airports, with some planes returning, circling, or being rerouted to Batam.
- More than 36,000ha have burned this year, while air pollution reached “very hazardous” levels and schools shifted to home learning.
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PEKANBARU/MEDAN, Indonesia – Worsening haze from forest and land fires forced airlines to delay and divert multiple flights across Indonesia’s Sumatra in the past few days as visibility plummeted and air quality hit hazardous levels.
Five flights at Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin II International Airport in Palembang were delayed on the morning of Oct 8 because of poor visibility caused by the haze, said the airport’s general manager, Ahmad Syaugi Sahab.