Haze delays five flights at Senai airport | Malaysia Aerospace Industry Association

October 08, 2026

JOHOR BARU: Five flights were delayed at Senai International Airport after haze reduced runway visibility, preventing aircraft from landing safely.

Transport Minister Anthony Loke said several flights were also diverted to Kuala Lumpur after air traffic authorities imposed restrictions because of poor visibility.

"A few flights this morning were delayed due to low visibility on the runway, including mine to Johor. The planes were not allowed to land, according to safety regulations.

"The pilots had to divert a few flights to Kuala Lumpur. One of them, as far as I understand, was diverted to Changi Airport. So, there were five flights that were delayed."

Loke said the disruption also affected departing passengers, with some flights held on the ground because aircraft were unable to land at Senai to operate subsequent services.

Loke's flight was among those delayed.

He said he had been scheduled to depart at 6.45am but remained on board for about one hour and 45 minutes after the crew was informed by Air Traffic Control that aircraft could not land at Senai.

The flight eventually departed at 9am.

Loke is in Johor on a working visit and had earlier launched Tanjung Pelepas Port's electric prime mover fleet as part of the port's decarbonisation drive.

The disruption came as haze blanketed Johor, with all eight air-quality monitoring stations in the state recording unhealthy readings at 9am.

Segamat recorded the highest Air Pollutant Index (API) at 187, followed by Pasir Gudang at 180, Kluang at 179 and Larkin at 178.

The Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia (CAAM) published aerodrome operating minima for Senai specify a minimum visibility of 800m and runway visual range of 550m.

Runway visual range (RVR) measures the distance pilots can see along the runway in poor visibility.

CAAM's low-visibility procedures require air traffic control to provide pilots with the current RVR for the relevant runway and impose additional safeguards to separate aircraft and vehicles during such conditions.