A total of 32 flights to and from Bali via I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport were cancelled due to the eruption of Mount Lewotobi Laki-laki in East Flores Regency, East Nusa Tenggara Province, on Tuesday, the 17th of June.
Acting General Manager of I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport, Wahyudi, said that based on data received until 09.30 Bali time on the following Wednesday (the 18th of June), there were 17 departure flights and 15 arrival flights affected.
“There are 12 international departures and five domestic departures with a cancelled status due to eruption activity. For arrivals, there are 13 international flights and two domestic flights cancelled by the airline,” he told reporters in Denpasar on Wednesday.
Furthermore, the affected airlines are set to provide passengers with options for flight cancellations, namely refunds, rescheduling, and/or rerouting. Meanwhile, PT Angkasa Pura provides a help desk area as a passenger service centre to offer any needed assistance.
“We provide mineral water and several areas at the airport that can be used to rest or put things down,” Wahyudi continued.
The 12 cancelled international departures consisted of flights to Singapore (3), Melbourne (2), Brisbane (2), Adelaide (1), Sydney (1), Pudong (1), Auckland (1), and Delhi (1). Meanwhile, the five cancelled domestic departures included four routes to Labuan Bajo and one route from Semarang.
Meanwhile, regarding arrivals, as of Wednesday morning, there were 13 international flights and two domestic flights cancelled by the airline. The details are flights from Melbourne (3), Brisbane (2), Singapore (1), Adelaide (1), Sydney (1), Perth (1), Darwin (1), Shanghai (1), Auckland (1), and Delhi (1). Furthermore, the two cancelled arrival flights were from Labuan Bajo.
Additionally, several areas in Ende Regency, East Nusa Tenggara, have been showered with volcanic ash from Mount Lewotobi Laki-laki since Tuesday night. The volcano had erupted violently on Tuesday afternoon, with the height of its ash column reaching 10,000 metres or 10 kilometres.
“The impact of this eruption was very much felt in Ende Regency,” said the Head of the Information Management and Multimedia Documentation Sub-Section of the Ende Police, Ipda Heru Sutaban, to the press on Wednesday.