Drifting ash from a volcanic eruption shut down airports on two of Indonesia’s most famous resort islands for a second day Friday, stranding passengers and disrupting local businesses at the peak of the summer holiday season.
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Some 316 flights were affected, said airport operator Angkasa Pura I.
Indonesia’s flag-carrier Garuda said it had cancelled a total of 112 flights.
A Changi Airport spokesman said that flights to Denpasar were cancelled and airlines were monitoring the situation.
This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
“The flight managed to land safely at the Halim Perdanakusuma Airport in Jakarta but the front glass was broken and the engine was dead”, Mr Jurry said.
A spokeswoman for Virgin said they would make an announcement about flights to and from Denpasar about 3pm. Australian low-priced carrier Jetstar and its rival Virgin Australia were the first to announce flight cancellations on Wednesday, even before the Indonesian airports were closed.
‘The airport is open now in Bali, ‘ he said, but added that it was not clear when flights would resume. “The loss of time is bad, but there’s little you can do about an erupting volcano”.
Government volcanologist Gede Suantika said the eruption forced authorities to close five airports due to the risks posed by volcanic ash, though two airports on Lombok island reopened Friday afternoon.
Indonesia’s vulcanology centre and the energy ministry’s geological disaster mitigation division raised the alert status for Mount Raung on June 29.
Image: Thousands of passengers have been stranded on the airports due to the closure.
Speculation It’s too early to know if the RAAF may be called in, but the flight home from Bali for holidaymakers stranded by a volcanic ash cloud might be in a windowless but otherwise spacious C-17 Globemaster.
Erupting Mount Sinabung on Sumatra has blanketed parts of Tanah Karo in ash.
“Jetstar plans to schedule additional flights to and from Bali over the coming days, subject to flying conditions, to get travelers moving as soon as possible”.
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Indonesia has dozens of active volcanoes and straddles major tectonic fault lines known as the “Ring of Fire” between the Pacific and Indian oceans.
