Dumai, Riau (ANTARA News) - A commercial Fokker-50 plane of the Sky Aviation, plying Dumai, Riau province to Batam, Riau Islands route, flew safely on Wednesday morning despite haze cloud due to smoke from forest fires, an airport authority official said.

Head of the Dumai Pinang Kampai airport operation unit, Irvan told Antara here on Wednesday, the Fokker plane carrying 30 passengers flew in the normal schedule at 10.00 am Western Indonesia Standard time (WIB), from Damai to Batam.

Irvan said the Wednesday`s condition of air space tending to deteriorate than ever before where the visibility was under 500 meters.

However, the haze continued to thin out until 9.30am and the visibility grew to 1,500 meters after the wind at speeds above the average 15-17 miles per hour drove the haze, he said.

Considering such relatively better condition of air space, the Sky Aviation management insisted to continue the flight on the schedule beginning at 10.00 am, Irvan said.

"Thank God, when the plane took off carrying about 30 passengers, the visibility condition are above 2,000 meters," he noted.

In the meantime, head of Dumai Health affairs office H Marjoko Santoso said the airspace condition in the region continued to decline significantly, so that it can lead to disruption of all activities and bring the disease to humans.

"Based on the air pollution standard index (ISPU), the air quality in Dumai at present is still above the 150 pollutant standard index (PSI), which means less healthy," Marjoko said.

The fine particles contained in the haze also caused the disruption of activities including flight due to the limited sight distance, Marjoko added.
(Uu.B003/HAJM/A014)

Editor: Priyambodo RH
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