Airport Service Section Head of airport operator PT Angkasa Pura I. Heru Widiatmo stated here on Friday that at least four flights were delayed due to the haze.
"There were four flights, which were delayed for about 30 to 60 minutes because of low visibility at the airport, which prompted pilots to delay the flights," he explained.
The four delayed flights included three Garuda flights departing for Balikpapan (East Kalimantan), Jakarta, and Surabaya (East Java). They were initially scheduled to take off at 7 a.m., 7.30 a.m., and 7.55 a.m. local time respectively. The other disrupted flight was the Kalstar plane that was scheduled to depart for Sampit city in Central Kalimantan.
The Haji Asan Airport in Sampit of Central Kalimantan was covered in thick haze.
"Since the emergence of haze over the past one week, the haze today is the worst one, hampering a number of flights," Heru noted.
In the meantime, it was also reported that thick haze had blanketed North Barito and Murung Raya districts in Central Kalimantan.
It also delayed flights arriving and departing from Muara Teweh Airport on Friday.
"A flight from Balikpapan, East Kalimantan, is delayed this morning until afternoon due to thick haze," Sidik, an airport official remarked here on Friday.
The delayed flight was a Susi Air plane serving the Balikpapan-Muara Teweh route. Usually, the plane arrives at 7.45 a.m. local time.
But, the airlines delayed the flight to Muara Teweh due to thick haze that limited vertical visibility to only 500 meters, he stated.
As the flight from Balikpapans Sepinggan Airport to Muara Teweh was delayed, the next flight from Muara Teweh to Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan, at 11.40 a.m. local time too got delayed.
Regional Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD) Head for North Barito District Guntur Pardede remarked that the haze that blanketed the area came from other regions.
Monitoring operations carried out on September 4, 2014, did not locate any hotspot in North Barito, he added.(*)
Editor: Heru Purwanto
Copyright © ANTARA 2014
