Antara News,Jakarta Globe | November 03, 2010
Jakarta.Flag carrier Garuda Indonesia on Wednesday diverted its embarkation point forhajj pilgrims from Solo to Surabaya to keep flights from being delayed byvolcanic ash from the erupting Mount Merapi.
Garudaspokesman Pujobroto said on Wednesday that pilgrims in batches 64, 65, 66 and67 scheduled to leave from Solo would depart from Surabaya.
Thepilgrims will fly to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, via Batam Island, just south ofSingapore.
“Garuda hasprepared buses to transport the departing pilgrims to Surabaya while check-inand other departure details have been processed earlier in Solo,” the airlinesaid in a statement.
Pujobrotosaid the departure point had to be changed because the volcano could delayflights, resulting in missing the Nov. 10 deadline for getting into SaudiArabia through King Abdulaziz Airport in Jeddah.
Solo hadbeen scheduled to see 33,492 pilgrims, split into 88 groups, leave fromAdisumarmo International Airport.
Garuda saidit had so far flown 119,622 pilgrims in 306 groups for this year’s hajj. Thefirst batch of pilgrims left from Polonia Airport in Medan on Oct. 11.
A total of491 groups of pilgrims will leave this year, comprising 197,500 regular-packagepilgrims and 23,500 special-package pilgrims.
Thegovernment organizes all-inclusive hajj packages for some 200,000 pilgrimsevery year, causing logistical headaches for the authorities.
Merapi,which straddles four districts in Central Java and Yogyakarta, has seenmarathon eruptions since Oct. 26.
BambangErvan, spokesman for the Transportation Ministry, said on Tuesday that airlineshad been warned to avoid certain routes over Yogyakarta and Central Java asMount Merapi continued to belch dangerous hot ash high into the air, forcingsix international flights to be canceled due to poor visibility.
Bambangsaid an official warning had been issued to all airlines to “use alternativeroutes for safety reasons due to the volcanic ash.”
Malaysia-basedAirAsia had canceled four flights linking Kuala Lumpur with Yogyakarta andnearby Solo on Tuesday. SilkAir, the regional carrier of Singapore Airlines,confirmed on Tuesday that it had taken two flights between Singapore and Solooff the schedule.
Merapispewed hot ash high into the air at least six times on Tuesday.
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