SINGAPORE. A Silk Air plane heading to Pekanbaru had to turn back to Singapore after a failed landing at Sultan Syarif Kasim II International Airport in Pekanbaru, Riau, on Monday. Wildfire smoke had limited the visibility at the airport to only 300 to 700 meters.

“Silk Air flight number MI 252 was scheduled to arrive at Sultan Syarif Kasim II airport in Pekanbaru at 8:10 a.m. local time,” said the airport’s duty manager, Baiquni, as quoted by Antara news agency. The aircraft had departed from Singapore at 7:45 a.m. local time.

Baiquni said the thick haze from land and forest fires in Riau had disrupted flights during the past several days. The haze was at its most dense around 8 a.m. to 10 a.m.

He said aircraft operated by Silk Air, a subsidiary of Singapore Airlines, had repeatedly been forced to delay both takeoffs and landings due to the thick smoke, which shrouded the airport.

“This was the third flight disruption. The airport was even forced to close temporarily on one occasion due to the smoke,” said Baiquni.

Apart from Silk Air, an Air Asia plane was rerouted to Kuala Lumpur International Airport after being unable to land in Pekanbaru on Monday.

Baiquni said Air Asia flight number QZ 7585 had departed from Bandung to Pekanbaru at 8:10 a.m. and was scheduled to fly to Kuala Lumpur from Pekanbaru at 8:45 a.m.

“But the thick smoke prevented the plane from landing; therefore, the Air Asia aircraft was directed toward Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia,” he said. As a result, both departures and arrivals of international flight schedules had changed, he added. (ebf/The Jakarta Post)

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