Flights to Bali canceled after volcanic eruption near holiday spot caused a dangerous ash cloud

Several flights there and back Bali have been canceled after Mount Lewotobi Laki-laki volcano began spewing ash as high as 9 km into the air.

Jetstar, Qantas and virgin Australia grounded more than a dozen flights scheduled to arrive or depart from Denpasar airport on Tuesday and Wednesday, leaving hundreds of passengers stranded, after the volcanic eruption nearby the popular tourist destination in Indonesia.

At least 10 people were killed and several others suffered injuries last week in the volcanic eruption on the Indonesian island of Flores, about 500 km east of Bali.

The volcano has been spewing smoldering rocks, lava and hot, thumb-sized fragments of gravel and ash from its crater since last week, affecting more than 10,000 people in 10 villages. Nearly 6,000 villagers moved into makeshift emergency shelters after the eruption, which destroyed seven schools, nearly 20 homes and a monastery on the predominantly Catholic island.

Jetstar said all flights to and from Denpasar Airport until at least 2pm (local time) on Wednesday have been canceled. “Affected customers have been directly notified and offered a range of options,” the airline said in a statement.

It added that options included “rebooking their trip or canceling their bookings free of charge and obtaining a voucher worth their non-travelled”.

The airline said on Wednesday it plans to operate at least two additional return services between Australia and Bali to help clear the backlog of passengers stranded at the airport.

Virgin Airlines said it canceled at least 10 flights to and from Indonesia on Wednesday due to “bad weather”.

“The safety of our guests and crew is our top priority. Adverse weather conditions due to the volcano in Indonesia have resulted in Virgin Australia canceling all flights to and from Denpasar today,” it added.

Two Qantas return flights scheduled to go from Australia to Denpasar have so far been delayed. The airline will reportedly resume operations from Sydney International Airport at approximately 4:30 PM (local time) on Wednesday.

Garuda Indonesia flights were delayed in both directions, 9News reported

People have taken to social media to share their ordeal and complaints about not receiving food or housing assistance.

Mark Wilson, who was on his way to Bali to celebrate his 50th wedding anniversary, said the flight sat on the tarmac for about an hour on Tuesday before passengers were informed they had to disembark.

“I’d like to think we’ll make it there… But I’ve got a bad feeling,” the Gippsland holidaymaker said. Sydney Morning Herald.

The 1,584-meter-high volcano on the remote island of Flores has shot out billowing columns of ash dozens of times since last Thursday, said Hadi Wijaya, head of the Center for Volcanology and Geological Disaster Management.

While visiting the devastated areas, officials found craters in several places where rocks fell during eruptions, up to 13 meters wide and 5 meters deep, including a destroyed school.

The country’s volcano monitoring agency raised the alert status of Lewotobi Laki Laki to the highest level and last week more than doubled the exclusion zone to a 7km radius, banning any activity in that area.

Lewotobi Laki Laki is one of a pair of stratovolcanoes in East Nusa Tenggara province, known locally as the Man and Woman Mountains. ‘Laki laki’ means man, while his partner is Lewotobi Perempuan, or woman.

Lewotobi Laki Laki is one of 120 active volcanoes in Indonesia, an archipelago with 280 million inhabitants. The country is prone to earthquakes, landslides and volcanic activity because it lies along the ‘Ring of Fire’, a horseshoe-shaped series of seismic fault lines around the Pacific Ocean.