Merauke, Jubi – Mopah Merauke Airport was closed for 12 hours starting from Friday afternoon to Saturday morning because of a volcanic eruption in Papua New Guinea.
The head of the airport, Asri Santoso, told Jubi that the closure was due to as from the eruption of Mount Manam in Papua New Guinea spreading into Merauke. Asri said the ash could disrupt parts aircraft engines and also reduced visibility.
Mount Manam is about 100 kilometers to the northern part of PNG.
“We see in the satellite and of the vision, the height of zero to approximately 6,500 feet,” he said on last Sunday (2/8/2015).
About 20 flights on Saturday morning forced to delay and canceled due to the incident.
“We delay but now we’ve been in contact to be able to fly from Sentani or another airport, “he said.
One passenger of Sriwijaya Air, Hendrik Seru was disappointed with the cancellation of the flight.
“I have business in Jayapura that can not be postponed. Because of eruption mountain in PNG, the flight was canceled,” he said. (Frans L Kobun/ Tina)
