Flights at Ipoh, Sibu airports cancelled due to haze

IPOH, Sept 19 ― All flights to Singapore and Johor Baru scheduled to depart from the Sultan Azlan Shah Airport (LTSAS) here have been cancelled again today due to haze.

LTSAS manager Mohd Ali Osman said the cancelled flights involved the Singapore-Ipoh-Johor Baru route (AirAsia); the Ipoh-Johor Baru-Ipoh route (Malindo) and the Singapore-Ipoh-Singapore route (Singapore’s low-cost carrier FlyScoot).

He said six return flights to Singapore and Johor Baru could no longer operate today due to haze.

“Two flights were cancelled this morning since 9.45am,” he said when contacted by Bernama here today.

One of the affected passengers, Chong Kwai Fong, 55, said he was supposed to board a Malindo flight to Johor Baru at 1.25pm today after the same flight was cancelled yesterday.

“At 8am, I received a message that the flight has been cancelled again today so I had to come to this airport to get a replacement ticket for the next flight,” he said.

A Bernama check found that the area around LTSAS airport was still crowded with people due to the cancellation of all flights today but several passengers came to the airport for the replacement tickets.

Meanwhile, in SIBU, three flights scheduled to land at the Sibu Airport earlier this morning had to be diverted to Miri Airport due to landing difficulty caused by thick fog and low clouds.

Sibu Malaysia Airport Sdn Bhd (MASB) manager Zainuddin Abu Nasir said that the affected flights were two AirAsia flights from Kota Kinabalu and Kuala Lumpur respectively and one MasWings flight from Bintulu.

Zainuddin said the Sibu-bound flight from Kota Kinabalu with 78 passengers on board was ordered to divert at 7.30am, while the Kuala Lumpur-Sibu flight (106 passengers) at 7.55am and Bintulu-Sibu (17 passengers) at 8am.

“Any future changes will depend on the flights’ arrival time at Sibu Airport,” he told Bernama here today. ― Bernama