Lion Air Plane Fails to Land at El Tari Airport

Kupang, E Nusa Tenggara (Antara) - On Tuesday, a Lion Air plane failed to land at the El Tari Airport in the East Nusa Tenggara provincial capital of Kupang amid bad weather conditions. The pilot of the plane serving the Jakarta-Surabaya-Kupang flight route decided to divert the flight to the Ngurah Rai Airport in Denpasar, Bali, while awaiting favorable weather conditions, stated Gabriel Lusi Keraf, airport duty manager of the state airport operator, PT Angkasa Pura I, in Kupang. "We hope that the plane passengers will understand our decision taken due to the ongoing bad weather. This is not the airline company's fault but is the effect of bad weather," she remarked. Also, on Tuesday, the TransNusa Air plane, which serves the Kupang-Bajawa flight route also aborted landing at the Turelelo Airport in Bajawa and diverted its flight to a nearby airport in Ende, East Nusa Tenggara. The bad weather also forced the TransNusa Air plane operating the Kupang-Larantuka flight route to cancel its flight. "By Tuesday evening, three flights were disrupted. The other flights landed at their scheduled destinations despite facing delays," she noted. On Tuesday, Head of Observation and Information Section at the El Tari Airport's Meteorology Station Mohamad Syaeful Hadi forecast that the bad weather will continue over East Nusa Tenggara for the next few days. "Based on the forecast, the bad weather will continue to last for six days," he added. (*)