TEMPO.CO, Pekanbaru-The entire flight schedule at Sultan Syarif Kasim II (SSK II) airport Pekanbaru are canceled due to haze interference. Visibility from Sunday, October 4, morning until evening is far below the allowed flight threshold.
"Visibility into the evening is just 600 meters," said Airport Duty Manager SSK II Pekanbaru, Hasnan, Sunday evening, October 4, 2015.
According Hasnan, as many as 68 flights on schedule, both arrivals and departures, were canceled because the runway was covered with haze. As a result, 8,000 passengers were stranded.
Hasnan said the haze that surrounded the airport made the flight schedule uncertain. As a result, airlines were forced to refund tickets. Some are also rescheduled.
Terra and Aqua satellites detected a surge of fire hot spots in Sumatra on Sunday, reaching 1,199 points. The number increased dramatically from the previous day at 111 points.
Head of the Meteorological, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) Pekanbaru station Sugarin said, South Sumatra remains the largest contributor of hot spots, reaching 1045 points. “The hot spots was observed at 5 am," said Sugarin on Sunday.
Concentrated haze from forest fire surrounded Riau province, cutting visibility in some areas such as Pekanbaru to just 300 meters, 100 meters in Rengat, Dumai, 300 meters and 100 meters in Pelalawan.
RIYAN NOFITRA