5 October 2015
The haze continues to ruin plans with a much-anticipated football match postponed, flights cancelled and several airport runways closed briefly.
Even racing fans had to hold their horses as the Penang Turf Club postponed its race day yesterday to Oct 11 to protect the health of the jockeys and horses.
The Malaysia Cup match between Perak and Johor Darul Ta’zim was supposed to kick off in Ipoh last night but the air pollutant index (API) reading exceeded 160, deferring any drama on the pitch.
Flights at several airports resumed operations after their runways were reopened again.
A Malaysia Airports Bhd (MAHB) spokesman said the Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport in Subang, the Sultan Azlan Shah Airport in Ipoh and the Sultan Abdul Halim Airport in Alor Setar resumed operations after being closed for several hours.
The Subang airport was closed at 6.35am yesterday but reopened at 9.30am; while the Ipoh airport was closed at 7.30am and resumed three hours later. The Alor Setar airport was closed for about three hours from 7.20am.
MAHB also said that operations were running as usual at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) and Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2 (klia2).
“Visibility at KLIA and klia2 was reported at 1,000m at 8am (yesterday). Airport operations are currently running as usual.
“All passengers are advised to check with their airlines on their flight schedules,” it added.
Bernama reported that the Kerteh airport, which was opened to all flights on Friday, was closed again yesterday.
Petronas east coast region communications and media relations manager Zamri Mohamad said visibility was 200m at 7am.
The Penang International Airport saw cancellation of three flights to Subang while five flights to Subang and Johor Baru were delayed yesterday.
Among those affected were Chinese tourist Sue Choong, 25, and her three friends. She arrived at the airport at 10.30am for her 1.10pm flight to Subang only to find out that it was delayed for four hours.
Choong, who will be flying back to Shenzhen, China, at 4pm today, said their trip to Malaysia was affected by the weather.
“We were in Sabah before coming to Penang and it rained so much over there so there was nothing much to do.
“We had hoped for a better time in Penang but the haze here is quite bad. Now, we have to wait for so many hours at the airport,” she said.
The Seberang Perai Municipal Council’s car-free event was also cancelled.
API readings showed that air quality in Shah Alam, which hit hazardous levels yesterday morning at 308, “improved” to unhealthy level at 183 by evening.
An API reading between 0 to 50 indicates good air quality; 51 to 100, moderate; 101 to 200, unhealthy; 201 to 300, very unhealthy; and 300 and above, hazardous.
The readings are updated periodically at apims.doe.gov.my.
Original Source: thestar.com.my
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