Jetstar Australia Cancels Bali-Bound Flights due to Volcanic Ash

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Six scheduled flights operated by Australian airline, Jetstar, from various destinations in Australia into Denpasar, Bali were cancelled on Thursday night - after local civil aviation authorities received reports and radar images of a volcanic eruption on Halmahera Island.

"The Bali-bound flights were cancelled for safety reasons because of a volcanic eruption on Halmahera, and according to their satellite imageries - the ashes were headed towards Australia," said the Head of District IV Airport Authority, Yusfandri Gona, at the Ngurah Rai Airport's International Terminal in Kuta, Bali on Friday, July 3, 2015.

According to Gona, the flights were bound for Bali from Sydney, Melbourne, Cairns, Perth, as well as Singapore. It is known that the flights originating from Sydney and Melbourne had already took off and flew towards Bali for several hours, before returning to their respective points of origins. "The remaining four flights were preparing to take off for Bali," said Gona.

That said, only Jetstar decided to cancel its' regular passenger services to Denpasar that evening, although flights to the popular holiday destination has already resumed earlier on Friday.

Gona added that Mount Raung's eruption in East Java will not affect domestic nor international flights.

ANTARANEWS