Haze from forest and brush fires caused flight delays in Indonesia’s South Sumatra province today amid sharply reduced visibility, an official said.

More than 10 landings and departures at the Sultan Mahmud airport in the provincial capital Palembang were delayed after visibility dropped to 200 metres in the morning, said Sawirman, a weather official at the airport.

“In recent days visiblity has been especially very bad in the morning and in the evening,” said Suwirman.

The neighbouring Jambi province has also been badly affected by the haze, causing flight chaos, officials said.

Haze from forest and peat fires on Sumatra is an annual hazard that often causes pollution indexes in neighbouring Malaysia and Singapore to reach unhealthy levels.

- dpa