A SilkAir flight had to return to Singapore on Monday morning, due to the worsening haze condition in Pekanbaru.
The SilkAir flight, MI 252, had arrived at Syarif Kasim II airport in the provincial capital of Riau province at about 8am.
Airport duty manager, Mr Baiquni, told The Straits Times that the flight was unable to land due to low visibility at the airport.
"The haze was thick and the pilot had to circle around the airport to find a way to land the plane.
"His first attempt to land from the west failed. He tried again to land from the north, but again, he couldn't do so. The pilot then decided to return to Singapore," he said.
Mr Baiquni added: "Visibility was only 300 metres this morning. Planes need a visibility level of at least 2,000 metres to touch down or take off."
A total of 11 flights were affected between 8am and 11am today. An AirAsia flight flying in from Bandung had to be diverted to Kuala Lumpur, while a Lion Air flight from Jakarta was diverted to Medan. The rest of the eight flights were delayed either at Syarif Kasim II airport or from their place of origin.
Normal operations resumed at the airport after 11am, when the sky cleared up.
SOURCE
Haze wrecking havoc in the region, with visuals severely affected and flights are embroiled into the matter. The forests in Sumatra are still burning and the haze situation is not showing any signs of let up. With the wind direction now blowing towards Malaysia, it will affect bigger airports like KLIA. Changi Airport handled the situation pretty well, let's hope the haze will clear up soon. Pray for rain in Sumatra.
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