Flight Activities In Sampit, Central Kalimantan Return To Normal After Being Disturbed By Smoke Fog

Prospective passengers at Haji Asan Sampit Airport while preparing to leave for Surabaya because visibility is declared safe for flights, Monday (9/10/2023). (NTARA/Norjani.

Flight activities at Asan Sampit Hajj Airport, East Kotawaringin Regency, Central Kalimantan (Central Kalimantan), returned to normal after being postponed for one day due to visibility disturbed by forest and land fires.

"Based on the BMKG's assessment for today's weather, it is normal, so activities can resume as usual. For today there is one flight to Surabaya and departure at around 11.30 WIB," said Haji Asan Sampit Avsec officer, Adam in Sampit, as reported by ANTARA, Monday, October 9.

Based on BMKG data from the Asan Kotawaringin Timur Hajj Meteorological Station, visibility in the local airport area in the morning is about 4,000 meters, so it is safe for flights.

At 11.00 WIB to 12.00 WIB, visibility decreased to 3,000 meters. However, this visibility is still declared safe so that the plane bound for Surabaya can safely depart.

Then at 13.00 WIB the visibility decreased again to 2,000 meters. The decline in visibility was due to the increasingly thick smoke from land fires.

On Sunday (8/10) afternoon, Wings Air's ATR-72 aircraft to Surabaya had to be canceled due to visibility at that time of only 2,000 meters, even though the visibility was safe to drink 2,200 meters.

The airline decided to cancel the plane departure and reschedule its departure on Monday afternoon. Luckily, Monday afternoon's visibility is still safe so the plane can be dispatched to Surabaya.

"Yesterday there was an canceled flight because the visibility was disturbed by thick smoke so that for safety it was canceled to avoid unwanted things from happening. For today, flights are back to normal," said Adam.