Bali airport reopens for second time after ash cloud from erupting volcano causes chaos
Erupting volcano forced the airport's closure for the second time in just a few days causing delays
The airport on the Indonesian resort island of Bali reopened Sunday after an erupting volcano forced its closure for the second time in just a few days and caused fresh travel misery for stranded holidaymakers.
Mount Raung on Indonesia's main island of Java has been erupting for weeks, and on Thursday a cloud of drifting ash forced the closure of Bali airport during peak holiday season, and four others.
The airport on the resort island, a top holiday destination that attracts millions of foreign tourists every year, reopened two days later as the ash drifted away, allowing some passengers to board flights home and others to arrive. However, the cloud returned early Sunday, forcing authorities to shut the airport again.
"Full, normal operations have resumed, however planes are to fly in and out from a westerly direction to avoid the ash," transport ministry spokesman J.A. Barata said.
Thousands of tourists who were visiting the tropical island famed for its palm-fringed beaches found themselves waiting for days at Bali's Ngurah Rai airport, near the island's capital Denpasar, anxiously watching departure boards, sitting and sleeping on the floor.
The second closure added to the sense of chaos as many holidaymakers had headed to the airport to catch flights delayed by the first shutdown.
"Someone just said the airport was closed for at least six hours ... gotta be kidding," said journalist Steve Dunthorne, on Twitter, after hearing the news about the second closure. "Standing in queue for check-in like a lemon. Staff look as confused as passengers."
About 300 flights to and from Bali were cancelled on Friday after the first closure. Airport officials could not give a figure for the number of flights affected by yesterday's closure.
Nine rescue flights departed Hong Kong to bring back an estimated 1,600 stranded Hong Kong travellers.
A Cathay Pacific flight diverted to Singapore due to the ash cloud, but later continued its scheduled flight after Bali airport reopened in the afternoon.
Indonesian flag carrier Garuda also said that diverted flights would head back, while budget airline AirAsia announced services from the island were resuming. However, Australian carriers Jetstar and Virgin earlier said they were cancelling all their flights in and out of Bali yesterday due to the new shutdown.
Another airport on Java serving domestic routes remained shut Sunday, Barata said. The other three originally closed on Thursday, including the international airport on popular Lombok island, east of Bali, had reopened earlier.
Indonesian government vulcanologist Gede Suantika said that Mount Raung continued to erupt Sunday, spewing ash up to 1,000 metres into the air. The wind had in the morning pushed the cloud of dust towards Bali, some 140km away. Authorities raised the alert status on the volcano late last month to the second highest level.
