Many people have found themselves with either ruined holiday plans or stranded as an erupting volcano grounds all flights in and out of Bali.
Airlines such as Qantas, Jetstar, Air Asia and Virgin have cancelled multiple flights after Denpasar Ngurah Rai International Airport was closed at 3:00 am local time (5:00 am AEST). The Indonesian island’s airport is located roughly 60 kilometres from Mt Agung, a volcano that has been releasing a nonstop hail of volcanic ash. The airport will reportedly reopen at the earliest time of 7:00 pm local time (9:00 pm AEST).
The eruption could not come at a more inconvenient time for Australian tourists as it is the eve of school holidays in both Victoria and Western Australia. Many families and young adults have planned a holiday to the popular island. The airline has posted on their social accounts telling customers to continually check for updates on their websites or helplines. One unlucky flight from Perth was already in the air and on its way when the news broke, causing the flight to land in Western Australia to refuel before heading back home.
I suppose there are worse places to be stranded 🌋🌋🌋 #mtagung #bali pic.twitter.com/mBVeArW7Iy
— The Points Guy (@thepointsguy) November 27, 2017
This is not the first time this volcano has tampered with holidays. In November of last year, over 100,000 people had to be evacuated from the ‘danger zone’ around the volcano, as ash was sent kilometres into the air. The seismic activity and mass mudflows forced airports to immediately stop all flights to Denpasar. However, that eruption was much more serious than this recent one.