The Star 10 Sep 15;
KUCHING: The haze is so thick in southern Sarawak that several flight landings have been disrupted.
A Malaysia Airlines flight to Kuching from Kuala Lumpur aborted its first landing attempt due to the low visibility yesterday.
The airline confirmed this to The Star but said the second attempt was successful.
“MH2504 executed a go around due to poor visibility during the approach to land at Kuching airport,” the airline said in a brief statement.
Disrupted flight landings were also reported at Kuching airport last week.
Despite the heavy rain on Monday evening, the haze did not clear.
Overnight, visibility worsened from 1.5km to just 1km yesterday morning. By 4pm, visibility was only 500m.
All of the state capital was enveloped in a thick haze.
The Air Pollutant Index for the city hovered in the high 90s throughout the afternoon, while it was 103 at Samarahan, a suburb about 10km away.
API readings of between 0 and 50 indicate good air quality; 51 and 100 (moderate), 101 and 200 (unhealthy), 201 and 300 (very unhealthy) and over 301 (hazardous).
The Singapore-based Asean Specialised Meteorological Centre (ASMC) has elevated Kalimantan (which borders Sarawak and Sabah) to alert level three, the most severe.
Since last week, Sumatra has also been at level three.
It said the current dry weather conditions over Borneo island was expected to continue.
Under the prevailing wind conditions, transboundary smoke haze could continue to spread to Sarawak and other parts of the region, the centre warned.
In Kota Kinabalu, parts of Sabah have been enveloped in moderate haze since Tuesday, with visibility being reduced to 4km in the east coast Tawau district.
Sabah Meteorological Services Department director Abdul Malik Tussin said the visibility in Tawau however improved to 7km on Wednesday.
The state’s west coast including Kota Kinabalu was also shrouded in haze yesterday with visibility reduced to 8km.
Abdul Malik noted that haze conditions were better in Sabah than other parts of Borneo with visibility being reduced to 1km in Kuching and 2km in Brunei.
Air Quality Worsens Again In Kuching, Samarahan, Sri Aman
Bernama 9 Sep 15;
KUCHING, Sept 9 (Bernama) -- As haze- affected Melaka and Nilai in Negeri Sembilan saw an improvement in the air quality as at 8 pm, Kuching, Samarahan and Sri Aman in Sarawak saw a decline.
The Air Pollutant Index in Melaka and Nilai switched from 'unhealthy' to 'moderate' while the API in the three Sarawak cities worsened to 'unhealthy'.
The website of the Department of Environment showed the API reading for Kuching at 103 as at 5 pm and moving up to 107 at 8 pm.
Samarahan had an API reading of 103 at 3 pm, which rose to 130 at 8 pm. The API reading for Sri Aman rose from 102 at 4 pm to 111 at 8 pm.
API readings of between 0 and 50 indicate good air quality; between 51 and 100, moderate; between 101 and 200, unhealthy; between 201 and 300, very unhealthy; and over 301, hazardous.
Kuching, Samarahan and Sri Aman experienced unhealthy air quality for several days last month. The API returned to moderate on Aug 25.
-- BERNAMA
Air Quality Deteriorates In Kuching, Samarahan, Sri Aman
Bernama 10 Sep 15;
KUCHING, Sept 10 (Bernama) -- The haze in Kuching, Samarahan and Sri Aman has deteriorated as of this morning.
The Environment Department in its website stated that the air pollutant index (API) reading for Samarahan as at 8 am rose to 163, compared to 130 at 8 pm last night.
The API for Kuching read 137 compared to 107 at 8 pm last night and Sri Aman recorded 142 compared to 111.
An API reading of between 0 and 50 is categorised as good, while 51 to 100 is moderate; 101 to 200 (unhealthy), 201 to 300 (very unhealthy) and 300 and above (hazardous).
Seven other areas in Sarawak recorded moderate air quality level; in Sabah, only Sandakan recorded good air quality with an API reading of 46 while three other areas recorded moderate API readings.
The federal territory of Labuan recorded an API reading of 69 (moderate).
-- BERNAMA
Low visibility due to haze disrupts aircraft arrivals and departures at Kuching International Airport
GOH PEI PEI New Straits Times
KUCHING: Low visibility due to haze disrupts aircraft arrivals and departures at Kuching International Airport as the Kuching division recorded an unhealthy Air Pollutant Index (API) reading of 146 as of 10am today.
The problem had inadvertently affected outbound flight from the airport.
According to a Bintulu-bound passenger, who requested anonymity, said his AirAsia flight that was supposed to depart from the airport at 9.35am have been delayed to an unidentified time.
“I was told by an AirAsia ground staff that the flight had departed from Sibu and transit in Kuching before heading to Bintulu.
“However, due to the thick haze, the aircraft could not land in Kuching.
“And I learned that there are other aircraft from other airlines that are facing the same problem,” he said, adding that the airport was getting crowded due to the delays.
Senior Airport Manager Mohd Nadzim Hashim confirmed that there were disruptions in the flight landings for a number of airlines.
“The problem with the haze is that arrival flights cannot land due to low visibility, which in turn, contribute to link delay for departure.
“The ground visibility at the Kuching International Airport is between 800m and 1000m. The pilot for the respective aircrafts will decide whether to land or divert the flight.
“So far, we have not faced any problem with flight departure,” said Nadzim.
The haze had also disrupted the operations at the Miri Airport in Miri, said a MASwings spokesman.
“Yes. It is confirm that some flights have been delayed. It is the usual weather problem that we have no control,” he said.
Meanwhile, other parts of the state that are badly affected by the haze included the Samarahan and Sri Aman divisions, which registered an unhealthy API reading of 171 and 148 respectively.
