Indonesia haze disrupts over 2,600 flights, forces 14 cancellations on Singapore routes

SINGAPORE: Haze from forest fires in Indonesia has disrupted more than 2,600 domestic flights since August and forced the cancellation of 14 international services involving Singapore, Indonesia’s Transportation Ministry said on Tuesday (Oct 20). 

A total of 2,604 domestic flights were affected between Aug 11 and Oct 19, said the ministry's director-general of air transportation, Lukman F Laisa.

Of these, more than half - or 1,420 flights - were cancelled or postponed, while another 1,129 were delayed.

Twenty-three flights were diverted to other airports, six returned to their departure airports and 26 were rescheduled to leave earlier, state news agency Antara reported. 

The disruptions affected airports across Indonesia, including Palu’s Mutiara SIS Al-Jufrie Airport in Central Sulawesi and Ternate’s Sultan Babullah airport in North Maluku province.

Airports in West Kalimantan's Pontianak, Riau's Pekanbaru and South Sumatra's Palembang were also affected.