RIAU (INDONESIA): Thick haze that blanketed Riau has affected almost 50 per cent of the flight operations at the Sultan Syarif Kasim II (SSK-II), here, for the past month.
SSK-II duty manager Hasnan Harun when met yesterday said many flights had to be either cancelled or delayed because aircraft were not allowed to take off or land due to poor visibility.
"Today (Saturday), 38 out of 70 scheduled flights (arrival and departure), including a Malindo Air flight from Malacca, had to be cancelled while the rest were delayed until visibility reached safe level.
"The minimum level of visibility for take off is 700 metres, while for landing is 1,000 metres.
"This morning (Saturday), three flights - AirAsia to Kuala Lumpur, Batik Air and Lion Air to Jakarta were delayed because visibility here as of 9am was only 500 metres," he said.
Hasnan said even if the haze situation had worsened, they would not shut down the airport. Instead, they will keep airlines updated.
He said since the haze started, only two days (Sept 11 and 15) saw zero flight arrival and departure because the visibility level was below 100 metres.
"An average of 8,000 passengers use this airport daily. But since the haze hits Riau, the number has dwindled."