Indonesia's volcanic eruption grounds international flights on tourist island of Bali

Indonesia: Several international airlines canceled flights to and from Indonesia’s tourist island of Bali on Wednesday as an ongoing volcanic eruption left travelers stranded at airports.

IndiGo and Air India on Wednesday cancelled their flights to Bali.

The Mount Lewotobi Laki Laki volcano located in a remote island in East Nusa Tenggara province erupted earlier this month and has resulted in ash clouds. These clouds could pose a threat to flight operations and as a result, many airlines have cancelled their services to Bali.

The 1,584-meter (5,197-foot) volcano shot up ash at least 17 times on Tuesday, with the largest column recorded at 9 kilometers (5½ miles) high, the Center for Volcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation said in a statement.

IndiGo and Air India operate daily flights to Bali from Bengaluru and Delhi, respectively. "#6ETravelAdvisory: Due to a recent volcanic eruption in #Bali, flights to/from the region have been cancelled, as ash clouds may impact air travel," IndiGo said in a post on X.

Air India said its flights from Delhi to Bali and return (AI 2145 and AI 2146 respectively), scheduled to operate on Wednesday have been cancelled due to unfavourable weather caused by the recent volcanic eruption.

"All possible efforts are being made to minimize inconvenience caused to our customers, due to this unforeseen situation, including complimentary rescheduling, accommodation in next available flight(s) or full refunds to those who opt for it," the airline said in a post on X.

The flight was earlier operated by Vistara, which has now been merged with Air India. Earlier in the day, Congress leader Pawan Khera tagged Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu in a post on X asking for help for passengers stuck in Bali.

In response, Naidu said the ministry was working with Air India on the issue and will ensure the safety, and convenience of the passengers is taken as the utmost priority.

Tourists told that they have been stuck at Bali’s airport since Tuesday after their flights were suddenly canceled. “The airline did not provide accommodation, leaving us stranded at this airport,” said Charlie Austin from Perth, Australia, who was on vacation in Bali with his family.

Another Australian tourist, Issabella Butler, opted to find another airline that could fly her home. “The important thing is that we have to be able to get out of here,” she said.

Media reports said that thousands of people were stranded at airports in Indonesia and Australia, but an exact number wasn’t given.

Indonesia’s Mount Lewotobi Laki Laki volcano on the remote island of Flores in East Nusa Tenggara province spewed towering columns of hot ash high into the air since its initial huge eruption on Nov. 4 killed nine people and injured dozens of others.

Authorities on Tuesday expanded the danger zone as the volcano erupted again to 9 kilometers (5½ miles) as volcanic materials, including smoldering rocks, lava, and hot, thumb-size fragments of gravel and ash, were thrown up to 8 kilometers (5 miles) from the crater since Friday.

The activity at the volcano has disturbed flights at Bali’s I Gusti Ngurah Rai international airport since the eruption started, airport general manager Ahmad Syaugi Shahab said. Over the past four days, 84 flights, including 36 scheduled to depart and 48 due to arrive, were affected.

At least 26 domestic flights and 64 overseas ones were canceled on Wednesday alone, including airlines from Singapore, Hong Kong, Qatar, India and Malaysia. For these cancellations, the airlines were offering travelers a refund, or to reschedule or reroute. Three Australian airlines have also canceled or delayed a number of flights. Jetstar has paused its flights to Bali until at least Thursday, it said on its website, saying it was “currently not safe” to operate the route.

Virgin Australia’s website showed 10 services to and from Bali were canceled on Wednesday. Qantas said it has delayed three flights. Some airlines are offering fare refunds for upcoming Bali flights to passengers who don’t want to travel.

Air New Zealand canceled a flight to Denpasar scheduled for Wednesday and a return service to Auckland due to depart Bali on Thursday. Passengers would be rebooked and the airline would continue to monitor the movement of ash in the coming days, Chief Operating Officer Alex Marren said. Korean Air said two of its flights headed to Bali were forced to turn back because of volcanic ash caused by the eruption.