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.
Passengers crowd Pekanbaru airport as haze grows thicker
Hundreds of passengers crowded anairport in the Riau provincial capital of Pekanbaru on Thursday as flights weredelayed as haze grew thicker in city, caused by intensifying forest fires inRiau and its neighboring provinces
Change text size
Gift Premium Articles
to Anyone
Share the best of The Jakarta Post with friends, family, or colleagues. As a subscriber, you can gift 3 to 5 articles each month that anyone can read—no subscription needed!
H
undreds of passengers crowded anairport in the Riau provincial capital of Pekanbaru on Thursday as flights weredelayed as haze grew thicker in city, caused by intensifying forest fires inRiau and its neighboring provinces.
'Those passengers are certainly disappointed because their flights have been delayed. But they understand because they also don't want to fly in such conditions,' officer in charge at Sultan Syarif Kasim II Airport in Pekanbaru Tony Hendri said on Thursday.
He said that the airport had distributed food and drink to the waiting passengers.
Tony said that 15 flights had been delayed as visibility at the airport had decreased. 'There is no other choice but to wait for the haze to clear. With such visibility, the pilots cannot see the airstrips,' he added.
Based on reports from four monitoring posts of the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) in Pekanbaru, visibility was 200 meters in the morning, having worsened from 500m on Wednesday.
Haze has disrupted flights at the Riau airport since Tuesday. On Wednesday, 14 flights were delayed, including a plane that was scheduled to take haj pilgrims to Mecca. Meanwhile, nine other flights were suspended.
Haze also disrupted flights to and from Dumai and Rengat. The visibility in Dumai and Rengat regencies was 300 meters and 800 meters, respectively.
'Pelita Air and Trans Nusa, serving Dumai-Jakarta and Dumai-Batam could not fly as scheduled,' said Pinang Kampai Airport in Dumai head Catur Hargowo. (bbn)
