In total, 87 flights were impacted — 66 international and 21 domestic, according to operators at Bali’s Ngurah Rai International Airport. Affected routes included services to and from Australia, Singapore, Vietnam, and Malaysia.
Operations resumed to normal on Thursday, with outbound flights from Bali operating as planned. “So far, all operations have been running smoothly for both departures and arrivals,” said Gede Eka Sandi Asmadi, an airport official, as reported by Reuters.
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Asmadi highlighted that airlines such as Malaysia Airlines, Virgin Australia, JetStar, and Singapore Airlines have reinstated their services. Flights to China also continued as scheduled. Qantas and its low-cost subsidiary JetStar confirmed that their operations were running smoothly on Thursday. AirAsia also announced the resumption of previously canceled flights between Bali, Lombok, and Labuan Bajo.
Two airports in East Nusa Tenggara province reopened on Thursday after being shut down the previous day due to volcanic ash. However, authorities have decided to keep Fransiskus Xaverius Seda Airport in Maumere closed until at least Friday due to ongoing concerns from residual ash in the atmosphere, as reported by the airport’s operator on social media.
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Emergency teams have evacuated numerous residents from three villages that are the closest to Mount Lewotobi Laki-laki, according to the regional disaster mitigation agency.
The country’s volcanology agency noted that the volcano has erupted 427 times this year alone. Tuesday’s eruption was the most significant since November of last year when several eruptions resulted in at least nine fatalities.
(Edited by : Jerome Anthony)
