TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Haze disrupts Pinang Kampai Airport's activities
Reduced visibility caused by smoke haze currently blanketing Dumai, Riau, has disrupted flight schedules at Pinang Kampai Airport over the last three days
Change Size
R
educed visibility caused by smoke haze currently blanketing Dumai, Riau, has disrupted flight schedules at Pinang Kampai Airport over the last three days.
Airport head Catur Hargowo said the limited visibility, which reached only two kilometers on Tuesday, had forced a Transnusa aircraft departing from Halim Perdanakusumah Airport in Jakarta to delay its landing for up to 30 minutes from its initial schedule of 8:30 a.m.
'It was fortunate that the scheduled departure of the same aircraft at 9:30 a.m. was not disrupted by haze. Limited visibility occurred only in the morning and after 9 a.m., the visibility returned to normal, reaching four kilometers, as the wind dispersed and moved the smoke out of the area,' Catur told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.
On Monday, the arrival and departure of a Transnusa flight serving a similar route was also delayed for half an hour due to thick haze. On Sunday, haze delayed departure and arrival schedules of three flights by around 20-30 minutes. They were Transnusa and Pelita Air flights serving the Halim'Dumai'Halim route and Transnusa serving the Dumai'Batam'Dumai route.
'Aircraft pilots will take off and land only if visibility at Pinang Kampai Airport reaches four kilometers. This is the standard operating procedure,' said Catur.
He said aircraft could land at airports in Pekanbaru and other big cities with limited visibility of only around 700 meters due to the airports' adequate supporting equipment, such as radars and runway lighting.
'Pinang Kampai Airport does not yet have runway lighting which can direct pilots. They can only depend on runway markings and guidance from the control tower when they land or take off. That's why pilots are more careful and don't want to take any risks over limited visibility,' said Catur.
He said that so far, haze had not reduced the number of Riau residents traveling via air.
'The occupancy rate of Transnusa, which serves general passengers, is still around 80 percent. Meanwhile, the Pelita Air aircraft was chartered by [state-owned oil and gas company] Pertamina,' said Catur.
He hoped the government could immediately extinguish land fires both in Dumai and neighboring regencies to prevent haze that disrupted airport activities. (ebf) (++++)
