Haze causes major losses to aviation industry

(ShutterStock Image)

MANADO—The aviation industry in Indonesia has suffered huge losses due to haze arising from forest and land fires in several provinces in the country that has, so far, hindered flights.

“Quite thick haze in several provinces in Indonesia has forced us to cancel flights for up to several days,” Commercial Director of PT Citilink Indonesia Hans Nugroho stated here on Thursday.

He said thick haze had reduced visibility and could also cause damage the engines due to which flights had to be canceled.

“We must prioritize the safety and comfort of passengers, and so, if an unfavorable incident occurs that compels cancelations, we would never take any risk,” he emphasized.

Since forest and land fires arose in Indonesia, the company had to cancel several flights, thereby affecting thousands of passengers and causing losses estimated at up to Rp25 billion, he noted.

General Manager of Garuda Indonesia of Manado Deddy Irawan seconded Hans viewpoint, saying that Garuda Indonesia had indeed suffered losses.

“We, however, could not as yet ascertain the amount of losses. What is clear is that we suffered losses as we had to pay for the parking cost for quite a long time, hotels for crew, and also compensation for passengers,” he explained.

Irawan said this was indeed caused by natural factors but expressed hope that the haze would soon vanish as various efforts had been made by the government to extinguish fires in several locations that hinder flights.