Air quality index in Shah Alam breaches 300, airports closed

The smoke has deteriorated further this morning with the capital city of Selangor hitting the hazardous level in the air pollutant index (API) reading, while two airports in the country remain closed. At 9am today, the Department of Environment said API in Shah Alam recorded 308, breaching the 301 hazardous API. Five other areas in Selangor and Kuala Lumpur continued its "very unhealthy" air condition with Batu Muda in Kuala Lumpur at 271, Petaling Jaya (256), Banting (249), Port Klang (243) and Putrajaya (235). API readings of between 0 and 50 indicate good air quality; 51-100 moderate, 101-200 unhealthy, 201-300 very unhealthy and over 301 hazardous. Meanwhile, Malaysia Airports Berhad (MAB) said operations at the Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport reopened at 9.15am this morning, after it was declared closed earlier when visibility was reduced to 350m at 6.35am. However, two other airports, Sultan Abdul Halim Airport in Alor Setar and Sultan Azlan Shah Airport in Ipoh, remain closed until further notice, MAB said in a series of tweets. The visibility for both airports was 500m as of 7.20am and 7.30am this morning respectively. Operations at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport and budget airport KLIA2 in Sepang continue as normal. The worsening situation also forced the Standard Chartered Kuala Lumpur Marathon to be cancelled today. This marks the second time the race was affected by air pollution. In 2013, the event was postponed from June to October. – October 4, 2015.