Haze-Hit Beringin Airport In Kalimantan Reopens After Two Months

By Azeman Ariffin JAKARTA, Nov 6 (Bernama) -- The Beringin airport in Muara Teweh in Indonesia's Central Kalimantan province reopened Friday after having been closed for more than two months due to the haze triggered by land and forest fires. The first flight to land at the reopened airport was a Susi Air domestic flight that arrived from Palangka Raya, capital city of Central Kalimantan, at 8.45 am, but it had no passengers, according to Antara news agency. The Susi Air flight from Muara Teweh to Palangka Raya carried a woman passenger and her baby, it said. An employee at the airport was quoted as attributing the absence or lack of passengers to the people being unaware of the resumption of flights following haze-free skies over the past three to four days. Susi Air operates thrice-weekly flights between Muara Teweh and Palangka Raya, on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. Palangka Raya was among the areas worst-hit by the haze, with the air pollutant index exceeding 2,000 units much of the time during the past three months. The website of Indonesia's Meteorological, Climatological and Geophysics Agency said the air quality in the hitherto haze-hit areas, including Palangka Raya, had improved, with the index dipping below 150. -- BERNAMA