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Haze starts disrupting flights
Haze from forest fires in West Kalimantan has caused delays in morning flights at Pontianak’s Supadio Airport over the past two weeks.
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Haze covers Pontianak in West Kalimantan on Tuesday evening. Haze came from forest fires has been plaguing the city over the past two weeks. (JP/Severianus Endi)
Haze from forest fires in West Kalimantan has caused delays in morning flights at Pontianak’s Supadio Airport over the past two weeks.
A flight that was scheduled to take off at 6:15 a.m. on Wednesday was delayed until the sky cleared at 7 a.m.
PT Angkasa Pura II's Supadio branch general manager, Bayuh Iswantoro, said Wednesday that at 6 a.m. visibility at the airport was only 500 meters.
“But it was only for a brief time because at 7 a.m. visibility was 1,000 meters,” said Bayuh. He said on haze-free days visibility averaged 5,000 meters.
West Kalimantan Disaster Mitigation Agency head of emergency and logistics Bosman D. Hutahaean said that of the 14 regencies and municipalities in the province, eight had declared a haze emergency.
“Once a region declares an emergency, it can deploy personnel and financing and use infrastructure and equipment,” Bosman said.
The Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) provides real-time information on particles in the haze to enable people to plan outdoor activities. When the figure exceeds 150 micrograms per cubic meter, it means the pollution is “unhealthy”. When it is between 0 and 50 micrograms, it falls in the “good” category.
On Wednesday morning, the pollution level reached “very unhealthy” with 314 micrograms per cubic meter. The figure decreased at noon. (evi)
