HAZE DISTURBS FLIGHTS IN PALANGKARAYA

Palangkaraya, Central Kalimantan, July 31 (ANTARA) - Haze enveloping Central Kalimantan's provincial capital of Palangkaraya has forced delays in several flight arrivals at Tjilik Riwut Airport on Friday.

Several flights by pioneer planes to remote areas served by Aviastar were postponed several times for a half hour or one hour.

The haze reduced horizontal visibility at the airport to less than 700 meters and vertical visibility to about 600 feet.

Aviastar has so far served flights to remote areas such as Buntok, Puruk Cahu, Kuala Kurun and Kuala Pembuang by using DHC-6 having 18 seats.

Meanwhile, Garuda Indonesia, Batavia Air and Sriwijaya Air operated their flights normally as the flight schedules were mostly at noon, when the visibility was quite clear.

The haze reduced the visibility at the airport especially at between 5 and 7 am local time, John Pieter of the Palangkaraya meteorology station, said.

"The visibility at the runway was only 500 meters to 800 meters, enabling plane landing and take-off. We continuously supply weather information to the airport's air traffic control to be passed on to operators and airlines," he said.

The haze got worse only in the morning and afternoon due to the peat soil fires surrounding the Tjilik Riwut airport, he said.

Forest and plantation fires have hit several provinces on Sumatra Island such as Riau, Jambi and South Sumatra, and on Kalimantan Island including Central Kalimantan, East Kalimantan and South Kalimantan.

Haze has forced the closure of airports in Pekanbaru and Dumai, Riau Province, several times over the past few months, with haze reducing visibility up to less than 300 meters.

On May 26, 2009, a number of elementary schools were closed due to haze covering Rokan Hilir, Riau Province, as the haze could affect the health of school children.