Indonesia haze disrupts 2,604 domestic flights, cancels 14 Singapore services
More than half of the affected domestic flights were cancelled or postponed, with disruption reported at airports across Indonesia.
Forest-fire haze in Indonesia affected 2,604 domestic flights from Aug 11 to Oct 19 and led to 14 cancellations of international services involving Singapore, Indonesia’s Transportation Ministry said on Oct 20.
Lukman F Laisa, the ministry’s director-general of air transportation, said cancellations or postponements accounted for 1,420 of the affected domestic flights — more than half of the total. A further 1,129 flights experienced delays.
State news agency Antara reported that 23 flights had to land at alternative airports, while six returned to the airports they had departed from. Another 26 had their departures brought forward.
The disruption extended to airports in several parts of Indonesia. These included Mutiara SIS Al-Jufrie Airport in Palu, Central Sulawesi, and Sultan Babullah airport in Ternate, North Maluku province. Airports serving Pontianak in West Kalimantan, Pekanbaru in Riau and Palembang in South Sumatra were also affected.
