Haze forces Garuda to stop in Palembang

Haze forces Garuda to stop in Palembang

23 September 2009

published by www.thejakartapost.com

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Indonesia —

A Garuda Indonesia airplane leaving Jakarta for Jambi made an unusual stopover at Palembang’s Sultan Mahmud Badarudin II Airport on Wednesday morning due to thick haze.

Dwi Putra Jaya, junior air traffic manager at Garuda’s Jambi office, told Antara state news agency the haze had reduced visibility to only 500 meters, or one fourth the minimum standard.

He said the pilot decided to land at Palembang’s Sultan Thaha Saifudin Airport as he was not sure about weather conditions in Jambi. He added other airline companies; Batavia Air, Mandala Air, Sriwijaya Air, Lion Air and Kartika Air shrugged off the reduced visibility.

The Garuda plane left for Jambi later in the day after visibility at Jambi’s airport increased to 3,000 meters.

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