Volcanic Eruption Causes Nearly 700 Flight Cancellations At Bali Airport

Kuta (Antara Bali)- Some 692 international and domestic flights were cancelled following Bali`s Ngurah Rai International Airport`s closure on Wednesday due to eruption of Mount Barujari, a cone inside Mount Rinjani`s large volcanic caldera, Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara.

"Our airport is currently affected by the volcanic ash being spewed by the erupting Mount Barujari," Chief of the Regional IV Airport Authorities Yusfandri Gona stated.

The airport is closed from Tuesday until Thursday morning (Nov. 3 to 5).

The cancellations affect 183 arrivals and 189 departures of domestic flights.

With regard to the international flights, 157 scheduled arrivals and 163 departures have been cancelled.

On Wednesday, five flights were diverted from Bali to Jakarta and Surabaya. Singapore Airlines SQ-948 serving Singapore-Denpasar (Bali) route, AirAsia AWQ-833 serving the Bangkok-Denpasar route, Garuda Indonesia GA-857 serving the Hong Kong-Denpasar route, and the Emirates 398 flight serving the Dubai-Denpasar route were diverted to the Cengkareng Airport, Jakarta.

AirAsia 545 serving the Perth-Denpasar route landed at the airport in Surabaya.

Meanwhile, Dutch airline KLM 835 serving the Singapore-Denpasar route, MXD-308 serving the Kuala Lumpur-Denpasar route, and AXM-374 serving the Kuala Lumpur-Denpasar route decided to return to their bases.

In the meantime, thousands of passengers were stranded at Bali`s Ngurah Rai International Airport, which was shut down on Wednesday due to the volcanic eruption.

The authorities have issued a Notice to Airmen No. A2470/15 regarding the temporary closure of the Ngurah Rai international airport, J.A. Barata, a spokesman of the transportation ministry, stated in Jakarta, Wednesday.

"The Ngurah Rai Airport in Bali and the Selaparang Airport (in Mataram, West Nusa Tenggara) are being shut down until Thursday morning at 8 a.m. Central Indonesian Standard Time, and the conditions will be evaluated again tomorrow morning," he affirmed. (WDY)