Several airlines said Thursday they had resumed flights to and from the tourist island of Bali, Indonesia, after suspending many rotations the day before due to the eruption of a nearby volcano.
No fewer than 83 international connections were canceled on Wednesday, the general director of Bali International Airport said in a statement, after a new eruption of Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki, located on the island of Flores, causing a column of ashes 9 km high.
On Thursday, Australian companies Qantas and Jetstar resumed their service to Bali, Qantas announced in a press release, reporting “better” conditions.
Jetstar will operate six flights during the day.
Qantas, for its part, announces a regular flight and two delayed flights the day before and will continue to “monitor the evolution of conditions and volcanic activity”.
Malaysian company AirAsia plans to resume certain flights to and from Bali later today, the company said in a statement to AFP.
Virgin Australia also said on its website that it would resume flights to and from Denpasar later today.
At the same time, Scoot, a Singaporean company, announced that it had postponed its flights from Singapore to Bali and Surabaya as well as its return flights due to volcanic activity.
As of Thursday morning, Bali Airport had recorded another 32 international flight cancellations while 180 international flights were scheduled, said airport general manager Ahmad Syaugi Shahab.
The latter specified that the volcanic ash had been moving away from the airport since Wednesday evening. “We hope that affected passengers will be able to resume their travel on Thursday,” he added.
Labuan Bajo airport, west of the tourist island of Flores and 300 km from the volcano located at the eastern end of the same island, reopened on Thursday, according to its Instagram page.
A tourist hotspot, Labuan Bajo is the preferred starting point for cruises to the Komodo Rinca islands and their rare dragons, endemic monitor lizards several meters long living in a national park.
The Lewotobi Laki-Laki volcano, about 800 km east of Bali, has erupted several times in recent days, killing nine, injuring 31 and forcing 11,000 people to evacuate.
While the economy of Bali, one of the busiest islands in the vast Indonesian archipelago, is heavily dependent on tourism, the country experiences frequent seismic and volcanic activity due to its position on the “Pacific Ring of Fire.” .
