Bali Shuts Ngurah Rai Airport Due to Volcanic Ash from Mt. Agung
29 June 2018 08:02 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The volcanic ashes from the eruption at Mount Agung, Bali, has forced Ngurah Rai Airport to temporarily stop its operation until to 7 p.m. local time today, June 29.
“Mount Agung’s continuous volcanic ash eruption has caused volcanic ash rain to fall on Bali’s Western and South West region,” said The National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) spokesperson Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, in a press release on Friday, June 29.
Furthermore, the decision to temporarily shut the airport from 3 a.m. to 7 p.m. was made in a coordination meeting. Based on the highest safety priority, several operators decided to cancel their flights.
Read: Mount Agung Erupted Again, BNPB: Ngurah Rai Airport is Safe
Sutopo explained, as a result of the eruption, 38 international and 10 domestic flights were canceled. “The airlines that canceled their flights are Air Asia, Jet Star, Qantas, and Virgin,” he said.
The latest reports suggest that the areas affected by the ash clouds are Bali’s western region in Purage, Pempatan Rendang, Keladian, Besakih, Br. Beluhu, Desa Suter.
Sutopo also revealed that there are signs of inflation suggesting that Bali volcano Mount Agung is developing magma beneath its surface.
Chitra Paramaesti