Volcanic ashes lead Virgin Australia and Jetstar to cancel flights to Bali

All flights to the Indonesian island of Bali have been cancelled by Virgin Australia and Jetstar on Tuesday as volcanic ashes from the eruptions at Mount Rinjani continue to create problems for planes to fly over the region safely.

Six flights by Jetstar and all 10 flights by Virgin Australia to and from Bali have been cancelled. Jetstar said it might also cancel other flights depending on the visibility situations. According to meteorologists and the Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre, the eruptions at Mt. Rinjani have rendered the region around Denpasar Airport unsafe for flying, the airlines informed.

“Our team of meteorologists and the Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre have advised that conditions in the vicinity of Denpasar Airport are not safe for flying”. Virgin Australia said in a statement. “A decision on tomorrow’s flights will be made once we have further updates from the Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre and this travel alert and our guests will be updated accordingly.”

Jetstar said that it will resume flights once the flying conditions are safe again and will keep the customers updated about any further cancellations.

“We will continue to closely monitor the movement of the ash cloud and update customers if continued poor flying conditions lead to further cancellations,” it said in a statement. “At this stage, we are advising customers not to travel to the airport for flights to and from Bali and to closely monitor their flight status on Jetstar.com.”

Customers who are currently in Bali have been advised by both Jetstar and Virgin Australia to refrain from travelling to Denpasar Airport without a confirmed rebooked flight. People were stranded in Bali for about a week in August following similar situations led up from volcanic eruptions in Mount Raung in Java. Thus, it is the second time flights have been cancelled contemplating dangerous flying conditions.

The Virgin Australia flights to and from Bali on Tuesday that have been cancelled are:-

VA49 MEL-DPS 0915L

VA43 BNE-DPS 1010L

VA65 SYD-DPS 1120L

VA60 DPS-PER 1330L

VA57 PER-DPS 1300L

VA59 PER-DPS 1800L

VA62 DPS-PER 1755L

VA46 DPS-BNE 2110L

VA54 DPS-MEL 2230L

VA64 DPS-SYD 0010L (4th November)

The Tuesday flights that stand cancelled by Jetstar are as follows:-