Malaysia’s Firefly cancels flights to Singapore over haze from Indonesia

Move comes as haze from Indonesian fires makes Singapore and Kuala Lumpur the world’s most polluted cities.

A passenger looks at Firefly aircraft parked on the tarmac at Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport in Subang, Selangor state, Malaysia [AFP]

Firefly, a Malaysian low-cost airline, has extended the suspension of its flights between Kuala Lumpur and Singapore through Wednesday as smoke from fires in Indonesia continued to blanket the region.

The announcement came as IQAir, an air quality monitor, ranked Singapore and the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur as the world’s two most polluted cities on Tuesday.

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Firefly said in a statement that flights between the Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport (SZB) near Kuala Lumpur and the Seletar Airport in Singapore (XSP) have been cancelled up to Wednesday due to “weather and haze conditions”.

It called the action a “proactive safety measure”.

The fires, mostly on the Indonesian islands of Sumatra and Borneo, are the country’s most intense in 11 years. They have been spurred by El Nino, a weather pattern expected to be among the strongest in four decades.

IQAir, a Swiss air quality monitoring company, said Air Quality Index in Singapore stood at 199 on Tuesday and 183 in Kuala Lumpur. Readings above 150 are generally considered unhealthy, and those above 300 are classified as hazardous.

Firefly, a subsidiary of Malaysia Aviation Group, which includes Malaysia Airlines, first announced the flight cancellations on October 10, citing “low visibility” due to the haze conditions.

Firefly said that affected passengers were being rebooked on Malaysia Airlines flights between Kuala Lumpur International Airport and Singapore’s Changi Airport, subject to seat availability.

The Singapore government has reintroduced subsidised care for haze-related illnesses, as it last did in 2015, when smoke from Indonesian fires hung over the region for weeks.

In Malaysia, schools reopened in most states on Tuesday as air quality improved slightly, but they remain closed in three states, one federal territory and several districts.

Malaysia’s foreign minister, Mohamad Hasan, said on Monday that he would press for stronger regional mechanisms when foreign ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) meet next month.

“We already have an ASEAN mechanism for natural disasters, but haze is not included or classified as a natural disaster,” he told reporters in Sepang, according to Bernama, Malaysia’s state news agency.

The Philippines, which chairs the bloc this year, confirmed that the issue would be on the agenda.

“It’s in the agenda,” Dominic Xavier Imperial, a spokesman for the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs, said of the November meeting, which will precede the 49th ASEAN summit in Manila.

Mohamad, the Malaysian minister, said Indonesia had deployed about 60,000 personnel to fight the fires, but thick smoke had grounded 34 aircraft, including planes and helicopters.

Remote terrain and limited water supplies have also hindered the effort, he said, and cloud seeding is not possible without suitable rain clouds. He acknowledged Indonesia’s efforts but urged more effective action, citing the toll on Malaysian communities.

此举是由于印尼山火产生的烟雾使新加坡和吉隆坡成为世界上污染最严重的城市。

一名乘客正在观看停在马来西亚雪兰莪州梳邦苏丹阿卜杜勒阿齐兹沙阿机场停机坪上的萤火虫航空公司的飞机。[法新社]

由于印尼山火产生的烟雾持续笼罩该地区，马来西亚廉价航空公司飞萤航空已将吉隆坡至新加坡的航班停飞期限延长至周三。

就在空气质量监测机构 IQAir 周二将新加坡和马来西亚首都吉隆坡列为全球污染最严重的两个城市之际，这项声明也随之发布。

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萤火虫航空在一份声明中表示，由于“天气和雾霾情况”，吉隆坡附近的苏丹阿卜杜勒·阿齐兹·沙阿机场 (SZB) 和新加坡实里达机场 (XSP) 之间的航班已取消至周三。

它称此举为“积极主动的安全措施”。

这些火灾主要发生在印度尼西亚的苏门答腊岛和婆罗洲岛，是该国11年来最严重的火灾。厄尔尼诺现象加剧了火灾的发生，预计今年的厄尔尼诺现象将是近40年来最强烈的之一。

瑞士空气质量监测公司IQAir表示，新加坡周二的空气质量指数为199，吉隆坡为183。通常情况下，空气质量指数超过150被认为是不健康的，超过300则被归类为有害。

马来西亚航空集团旗下子公司飞萤航空于 10 月 10 日首次宣布取消航班，理由是雾霾导致“能见度低”。

萤火虫航空表示，受影响的乘客将被重新安排乘坐马来西亚航空公司吉隆坡国际机场和新加坡樟宜机场之间的航班，具体视座位情况而定。

新加坡政府重新推出了针对雾霾相关疾病的补贴医疗服务，就像上一次在 2015 年那样，当时印尼山火产生的烟雾在该地区笼罩了数周。

在马来西亚，随着空气质量略有改善，大部分州的学校于周二重新开放，但有三个州、一个联邦直辖区和几个地区的学校仍然关闭。

马来西亚外交部长穆罕默德·哈桑周一表示，他将在下个月东盟外长会议上敦促建立更强有力的区域机制。

据马来西亚国家通讯社马新社报道，他在雪邦告诉记者：“我们已经有了东盟应对自然灾害的机制，但雾霾并未被纳入其中，也没有被归类为自然灾害。”

今年担任该集团轮值主席国的菲律宾证实，该问题将被列入议程。

菲律宾外交部发言人多米尼克·泽维尔·帝国表示：“这已列入议程。”他指的是11月举行的会议，该会议将在马尼拉举行的第49届东盟峰会之前举行。

马来西亚部长穆罕默德表示，印尼已部署约 6 万名人员扑灭火灾，但浓烟导致 34 架飞机（包括固定翼飞机和直升机）停飞。

他还表示，偏远的地形和有限的水源也阻碍了这项工作，而且如果没有合适的雨云，人工增雨就无法进行。他肯定了印尼所做的努力，但敦促采取更有效的行动，并指出马来西亚民众因此遭受了沉重打击。