Bali and Lombok airports closed due to ash cloud
Bali and Lombok airports were closed down due to the presence of ash cloud blown from an erupting volcano from the Indonesian island of Lombok on Wednesday. Earlier in the morning, more flights were cancelled to and from Bali as ash continued to disrupt flight schedules.
On Tuesday, volcanic eruptions from Mount Rinjani forced airline companies like Virgin Australia and Jetstar to cancel all their flights to Bali as meteorological experts deemed the region to be “unsafe for flying." According to the ABC, the volcanic ash cloud is about one kilometre high and blowing north-west from Lombok towards Bali.
Airlines received updates from the Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre, and once the conditions improved near the Denpasar airport, they would continue with their services. However, volcanologists fear that the eruption would take longer to finish. "Based on my experience of watching this mountain, the explosions will never happen just for a couple of weeks," said Mutaharlin, a volcanologist based at the nearby Mount Rinjani Observation Post, while noting that in 2009, eruptions continued for one-and-a-half years.
On Wednesday, Virgin Australia announced that all of its flights between Australia and Bali will remain cancelled until 6 p.m. on Thursday. Similarly, Jetstar also cancelled all flights that were scheduled Wednesday and has announced to give an update on the same on Thursday evening.
“Unfortunately, as the latest forecast this afternoon has not improved, we have cancelled these flights as early as possible. We understand this is frustrating and want to get customers moving to their destination as soon as it safe to do so,” Jetstar said in a statement.
AirAsia has also cancelled all flights to and from Bali and promised to resume service once conditions improved. In addition, domestic flights in Bali have been affected and were cancelled over the eruptions.
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