Several airlines have resumed flights to Indonesia's Bali on Thursday, a day after services to the popular tourist destination were cancelled due to mega volcanic eruptions.
After Bali's Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki spewed a nine-kilometre tower of ash into the sky, as many as eighty-three international flights were cancelled on Wednesday. The ongoing volcanic eruption not only forced tourists to postpone their landing at the island but also left many stranded at airports including the Bali International Airport. Many remained stuck at Bali's airport since Tuesday after their flights were suddenly cancelled.
As of 3 am Thursday, Bali's airport had recorded another 32 international flight cancellations, international media reports said.
The airline did not provide accommodation, leaving us stranded at this airport, said Charlie Austin from Perth, Australia, who was on vacation in Bali with his family.
Qantas and Jetstar were resuming their services to Bali, Australia's Qantas Group said in a statement Thursday, noting "improved" conditions. However, the group said in their statement that they will continue to monitor the volcanic activity. Earlier, Qantas said it had delayed three flights to Bali. Virgin Australia's website showed 10 services to and from Bali were cancelled on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, AirAsia is also on course to resume flights to and from Bali on Thursday.
Bali volcanic eruption affects tourists
Media reports said that thousands of people were stranded at airports in Indonesia and Australia, but an exact number wasn't given. Air New Zealand cancelled a flight to Denpasar scheduled for Wednesday and a return service to Auckland due to depart Bali on Thursday. Korean Air said two of its flights headed to Bali were forced to turn back because of volcanic ash caused by the eruption.
Indonesia's Mount Lewotobi Laki Laki volcano on the remote island of Flores in East Nusa Tenggara province spewed towering columns of hot ash high into the air since its initial huge eruption on November 4 killed nine people and injured dozens of others.
Three other airports in neighbouring districts of Ende, Larantuka and Bajawa have been closed since Monday after Indonesia's Air Navigation issued a safety warning because of volcanic ash.
The 1,584-metre volcano shot up ash at least 17 times on Tuesday, with the largest column recorded at 9 kilometres high, the Centre for Volcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation said in a statement.
Authorities on Tuesday expanded the danger zone as the volcano erupted again to 9 kilometres as volcanic materials, including smoldering rocks, lava, and hot, thumb-size fragments of gravel and ash, were thrown up to 8 kilometres from the crater since Friday.
The activity at the volcano has disturbed flights at Bali's I Gusti Ngurah Rai international airport since the eruption started, airport general manager Ahmad Syaugi Shahab said. Over the past four days, 84 flights, including 36 scheduled to depart and 48 due to arrive, were affected.
Some airlines are offering fare refunds for upcoming Bali flights to passengers who don't want to travel.
About 6,500 people were evacuated in January after Mount Lewotobi Laki Laki began erupting, spewing thick clouds and forcing the government to close the island's Fransiskus Xaverius Seda Airport. No casualties or major damage were reported, but the airport has remained closed because of seismic activity.
Lewotobi Laki Laki is one of a pair of stratovolcanoes in the East Flores district of East Nusa Tenggara province, known locally as the husband-and-wife mountains. Laki laki means man, while its mate is Lewotobi Perempuan, or woman. It's one of the 120 active volcanoes in Indonesia, an archipelago of 280 million people.
