Summit in Indonesia scrubs 673 commercial flights

The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit under way in Indonesia, has forced airlines to cancel hundreds of flights, an airport spokeswoman said. The summit is expected to interrupt normal commercial flight activity through Oct. 9, Ngurah Rai International Airport spokeswoman Sherly Yunita said. The Jakarta Post reported Monday there were 673 commercial flights canceled, a potential disruption in traveling for 106,171 passengers. The commercial fights were canceled "due to the heavy air traffic," expected during the summit, the Post reported. "Around 673 commercial flights on the regular schedule that should have operated between Oct. 6-9 have already been canceled. There should be 1,378 commercial fights scheduled on those days," Yunita said. There were roughly 350 flights scheduled for each of those days, the Post reported. Carrier Garuda Indonesia canceled 162 flights of 318 scheduled in the four-day period, possibly affecting 25,993 passengers. Air Asia canceled an additional 86 flights out of 186 scheduled, possibly affecting 15,482 passengers. Lion Air cut its 160-flight schedule in half, possibly affecting 17,040 passengers had all the flights been booked to capacity, the newspaper said.