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DOUW Aturure Nabire Airport in Central Papua Province canceled two flights Friday after forest and land fire smoke reduced visibility to below 70 meters, officials said.
According to Acting Head of the Class II Douw Aturure Airport Authority Alrido Simanjuntak said the affected flights were Nam Air’s Nabire-Makassar service and Wings Air’s Timika-Nabire service.
“Visibility fell below 70 meters, while at least five kilometers is required for flights. Two flights were affected by the smoke,” he said.
Nam Air’s Nabire-Makassar flight, scheduled to depart at about 3:30 p.m. local time, was canceled. Wings Air’s Timika-Nabire flight, due at about 4 p.m., was also affected. The airport closed at about 3:30 p.m. to prioritize the safety of flights, passengers, and crew, Alrido said.
Visibility improved after more than an hour to about 100 meters but remained insufficient to restore normal flight operations.
“I cannot confirm conditions for tomorrow. Firefighters are still working to prevent the fire from spreading toward the airport,” he said.
The smoke came from a land fire near the airport. The fire was about 70 meters from the airport’s perimeter fence, while smoke entered the airport grounds.
“The fire has not entered because firefighters are working to keep it away from the runway. It is the smoke that entered,” he said.
Airport firefighters continued spraying vegetation along the perimeter fence to prevent the fire from spreading into the airport grounds.
Before conditions worsened, airport authorities urged residents through village and urban community leaders and places of worship not to burn land.
Morning and midday flights operated safely, he said. Disruptions occurred only in the afternoon as visibility deteriorated.
Under normal conditions, Douw Aturure Nabire Airport handles about 40 aircraft movements, or 20 to 25 flights, daily from 6:30 a.m. local time. [antaranews]
