Thick haze at Pekanbaru’s Sultan Syarif Kasim II Airport delayed two flights on Sunday and led officials to re-direct an incoming flight to Batam.

Ground controllers delayed Lion Air and Garuda Indonesia flights heading for Jakarta that were supposed to depart at 7 a.m.

“Lion flight number 393 finally took off at 7:45 a.m., while Garuda flight 171 only took off at 8:30 a.m.,” airport manager Gurit Setiawan said on Sunday.

Visibility was only 300 meters at 7 a.m., making it too risky to take off or land, he said.

The haze also led air traffic controllers to reroute an incoming Garuda flight to Batam.

Based on monitoring by the Pekanbaru office of the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG), the number of hot spots in Sumatra reached 93 on Sunday, with South Sumatra having the highest with 69, followed by Jambi with 14.

“Riau...