Bali flights cancelled due to dangerous volcanic ash

JAKARTA — Several airlines have canceled flights to and from Bali due to dangerous ash clouds from a volcano near the Indonesian holiday island.

Qantas, Jetstar and Virgin Australia advised passengers of the disruptions on Wednesday, saying the ash from Mount Lewotobi Laki-laki made it unsafe to fly.

The volcano spewed a 9km (6.2 miles) ash column into the sky over the weekend, one week after a major eruption killed 10 people.

Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology has also warned that the volcanic ash might drift to parts of the country’s north on Wednesday.

Jetstar said all flights to and from Bali until 12:00 Australian Eastern Daylight Time Thursday (04:00 GMT) have been canceled. Other airlines which have followed suit include Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific, India’s IndiGo, and Malaysian carrier AirAsia.

Virgin Australia, which canceled all its flights to and from Bali on Wednesday, said in a statement: “Safety is always our highest priority, and our meteorology team is closely monitoring the situation.”

Singapore Airlines and its low-cost carrier Scoot have similarly cancelled some flights — though Singapore’s airport website shows that other flights to and from Bali have continued to run on Wednesday.

The general manager of Bali’s international airport Ahmad Syaugi Shahab, told Reuters that 22 international flights and 12 domestic ones had been affected on Tuesday, but did not provide details about Wednesday’s flights.

Activities in Indonesia have also been affected by the volcanic ash.

A jazz festival in Labuan Bajo town, some 600km from Mount Lewotaobi Laki-laki, was postponed to next year due to safety concerns.

Indonesia sits on the Pacific “Ring of Fire”, an area of high seismic activity atop multiple tectonic plates, and has about 130 active volcanoes.

Past volcanic eruptions have disrupted aviation. In 2020, ash clouds from Mount Merapi shut an airport in the city of Solo. — BBC