Smoke from slash-and-burn farming delays flights to northern Laos
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Morning flights from Vientiane to the northern provinces have experienced delays recently because visibility has been impaired by smoke as farmers burn off brush ahead of planting their rice crops.
Most of the flights affected are those that go to Luang Prabang, Oudomxay, Xieng Khuang and Luang Namtha provinces. Flights between Luang Prabang and Chiang Mai are also sometimes delayed, according to Lao Airlines’ Flight Operations Department.
The haze that blankets the sky in the morning is a major problem for pilots at this time of the year as they cannot land safely. However, the problem is not as severe in the afternoons and evenings, department official Vannasin Sombatsaphai told Vientiane Times yesterday.
“We have been able to fly at scheduled times when the sky is clear, but on other days we have to delay flights by up to three hours,” he said.
However, flights from Vientiane to the southern provinces of Champassak and Savannakhet are still able to depart on time.
Starting in March every year, farmers burn off the brush on their land so they can start
planting their rice and other crops.
After farmers have finished clearing their land, they normally start to plant their crops at the beginning of the rainy season or in May.
There are three or four flights between Vientiane and Luang Prabang very day, while flights to Oudomaxay, Xieng Khuang and Luang Namtha leave Vientiane once a day.
Each year the government, mainly through the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, asks local authorities to advise farmers on safe ways to carry out burning, so as to avoid forest fires.
People who forage for food in forests or hunt animals have to be careful when lighting a fire and must make sure it has been completely extinguished before they leave the area.
There have been forest fires in the past but local authorities have not reported on the extent of the damage.
So far this dry season there have been no reports of forest fires from provincial authorities even though farmers in many areas are in the process of burning shrubs to clear their land.
Most of the land that farmers burn off has been allocated to them for crop cultivation.
