Pekanbaru, Riau, Oct 6 (Antarariau.com)- Haze from the ongoing forest and plantation fires has led to 68 flight cancellations at the Sultan Syarif Kasim II Airport here on Tuesday.
"Today, 68 out of the total 70 flights are delayed," Duty Manager of Sultan Syarif Kasim II Airport Ibnu Hasan stated.
Garuda Indonesia and Lion Air have not yet announced the cancellations of their respective flights, GA 198 and JT 392, scheduled to depart at 8:30 p.m. local time.
"However, the two flights are also likely to be cancelled, given the fact that the visibility is only 500 meters at 2 p.m. local time," he noted.
The airlines that have cancelled their flights include Citilink, Fire Fly, Air Asia, Sriwijaya, Garuda Indonesia, Malindo, and Lion Air.
The Sultan Syarif Kasim II Airport usually serves some 70 flights operated by 11 airlines daily.
Since the haze situation deteriorated on September 2, several flights had to be cancelled or delayed due to the smog from wildfires.
The Pekanbaru meteorology station reported on Tuesday that the haze thickened and reduced visibility to 50 meters in Pelalawan, 100 meters respectively in Pekanbaru and Rengat in Indragiri Hulu District, and 200 meters in Dumai.
"This is the worst haze disaster in history to have ever hit Riau," Head of the Pekanbaru meteorology station Sugarin pointed out.
Haze from South Sumatra affected Riau, which only had one hotspot on Tuesday.
Of the total 384 hotspots detected across Sumatra Island, 360 were detected in South Sumatra, 10 in Jambi, five in Lampung, six in West Sumatra, and two in Bangka Belitung.
In the meantime, NASAs Terra and Aqua satellites detected 1,820 hotspots of land and forest fires in Sumatra and Kalimantan islands on Sunday (Oct. 4), according to the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB).
Of the total, 1,563 were found in Sumatra and 257 in Kalimantan, Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, the head of BNPBs Information Data Center and Public Relations, said.
He remarked that 1,340 of the 1,563 hotspots in Sumatra were found in South Sumatra, nine in Riau, 131 in Jambi, 22 in Bangka Belitung, 57 in Lampung, and one in Riau Islands, among others.
Haze Causes 68 Flight Cancellation In Pekanbaru
