Indonesia’s volcanic eruption grounds international flights on tourist island of Bali

Passengers look at a flight information board after a number of flights are cancelled at Bali airport, yesterday

Several international airlines canceled flights to and from Indonesia’s tourist island of Bali yesterday as an ongoing volcanic eruption left travelers stranded at airports.

Tourists told The Associated Press that they have been stuck at Bali’s airport since Tuesday after their flights were suddenly canceled.

“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.

Another Australian tourist, Issabella Butler, opted to find another airline that could fly her home.

“The important thing is that we have to be able to get out of here,” she said.

Media reports said that thousands of people were stranded at airports in Indonesia and Australia, but an exact number wasn’t given.

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 Nov. 4 killed nine people and injured dozens of others.

The 1,584-meter (5,197-foot) volcano shot up ash at least 17 times on Tuesday, with the largest column recorded at 9 kilometers (5½ miles) high, the Center for Volcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation said in a statement.

Authorities on Tuesday expanded the danger zone as the volcano erupted again to 9 kilometers (5½ miles) as volcanic materials, including smoldering rocks, lava, and hot, thumb-size fragments of gravel and ash, were thrown up to 8 kilometers (5 miles) 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.

Shahab said that at least 26 domestic flights and 64 overseas ones were canceled yesterday alone, including airlines from Singapore, Hong Kong, Qatar, India and Malaysia. For these cancellations, the airlines were offering travelers a refund, or to reschedule or reroute, he said.

Three Australian airlines have also canceled or delayed a number of flights. Jetstar has paused its flights to Bali until at least Thursday, it said on its website, saying it was “currently not safe” to operate the route.

Virgin Australia’s website showed 10 services to and from Bali were canceled yesterday. Qantas said it has delayed three flights. Some airlines are offering fare refunds for upcoming Bali flights to passengers who don’t want to travel.

Air New Zealand canceled a flight to Denpasar scheduled for yesterday and a return service to Auckland due to depart Bali on Thursday. Passengers would be rebooked and the airline would continue to monitor the movement of ash in the coming days, Chief Operating Officer Alex Marren said.

Korean Air said two of its flights headed to Bali were forced to turn back because of volcanic ash caused by the eruption. FIRDIA LISNAWATI, DENPASAR, MDT/AP