JAKARTA: (Bernama) All flights at Singkawang Airport in Indonesia’s West Kalimantan province were cancelled on Saturday due to haze, as authorities continued efforts to tackle forest and land fires across Kalimantan.
In an infographic posted on its official Instagram account, the airport, which handles domestic flights, said the decision was made for flight safety and advised affected passengers to contact their respective airlines.
Singkawang is located in the western part of Indonesian Borneo, about 145 kilometres north of the provincial capital, Pontianak.
Meanwhile, Indonesia’s Transport Ministry said on Friday that it was continuing to monitor smoke from forest and land fires in Kalimantan and their impact on flight operations at several airports.
Director-General of Civil Aviation Lukman F. Laisa said visibility was an important factor in aviation safety, with flights subject to delays, diversions or cancellations when it falls below required operational limits.
"Aviation safety is the main priority. Operators are required to make adjustments when visibility conditions do not meet requirements. We continue to monitor the situation and coordinate with all stakeholders,” he said in a statement.
Meanwhile, the ministry said in its latest update on Instagram that NASA’s Terra/Aqua satellite monitoring detected 56 high-confidence hotspots in Central Kalimantan, 51 in West Kalimantan and 19 in South Kalimantan as of 9.30pm local time on Friday.
Citing monitoring by the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG), it said parts of West and Central Kalimantan were experiencing very unhealthy air quality.
Ground and aerial firefighting operations, including water bombing, are ongoing, while weather modification operations have been prepared and will be carried out when suitable cloud conditions are available.
Separately, Central Kalimantan police had named about 12 suspects in forest and land fire cases as of mid-August, Antara news agency reported on Aug 19.
Central Kalimantan police chief Inspector-General Iwan Kurniawan said all forest and land fires in the province were being investigated to determine their causes and identify those responsible, with the investigations resulting in suspects being named in several cases. - Bernama
