Flights between peninsula and East Malaysia remain suspended

FLIGHTS remained suspended between West and East Malaysia this morning after a volcanic eruption in Indonesia disrupted air traffic on Wednesday.

AirAsia announced that it has cancelled flights between Sandakan, Kota Kinabalu, and Tawau from 6am to 1pm today.

Malaysia Airlines has scrapped several flights from Kuala Lumpur to Tawau, Sandakan, and Tawau. 

Batik Air was operating this morning but only within a limited time window. 

The smoke is expected to disrupt flights in the region for weeks to come, The Star reported.

The situation will depend on wind patterns and volcanic intensity and disruptions may last until mid-May, climatologist Datuk Azizan Abu Samah said.

“We are now in the inter-monsoon season, and the air may not clear until May when the southwest monsoon sets in. The main issue is how the volcanic plume is transported by the wind. We do not want airplanes to fly into the plume, which could cause aircraft to malfunction,” he said.

The flight cancellations affected about 20,000 travellers yesterday at the Kota Kinabalu International Airport, data from the Chief Minister's Office showed.

More than 30 flights were called off as volcanic ash clouds formed following the eruption of Mount Ruang in North Sulawesi.

Some airlines resumed operations in the evening.

The Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia has advised airlines and aircraft operators to monitor the weather and advisories issued by the authorities.

Mount Ruang, a stratovolcano, erupted at 9.45pm on Tuesday and four more times on Wednesday, spewing a long column of smoke into the sky.

The Malaysian Meteorological Department said ash cloud plumes had risen over 17,000m into the air and were travelling in a westerly direction towards the Borneo islands at a speed of 30 knots.

“At this point, Indonesian authorities have raised the security alert to level 4 and expect volcanic activities to continue to intensify,” its director-general Muhammad Helmi Abdullah said

Air quality in the West and East Malaysia regions is reported to be between good and moderate. – April 19, 2024