Lombok Airport Reopened after Mount Agung Eruption
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Kamis, 1 Januari 1970 07:00 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Mataram - Lombok International Airport has been reopened for inbound and outbound flights. The weather conditions are deemed conducive to safe flight after Mount Agung erupted on Saturday and Sunday.
As of 7 am this morning Central Indonesia Time (WITA), only two planes took off from the airport, JT 651 Lion Air to Jakarta and GA7024 Garuda to Bima.
Gusti Ngurah Ardita, General Manager of state-owned airport operator Angkasa Pura of Lombok International Airport (LIA), explained that the airport has been reopened after a meeting at LIA Crisis Center. “Based on satellite reports, [weather conditions] are conducive to flight operations,” he told Tempo.
Read also: Mount Agung Eruption: Lombok Airport Closed
However, most of the scheduled flights were not available since aircraft departing from LIA are typically those that spend the night at the airport. During the closing of the airport, as many as 16 scheduled flights were canceled.
As reported before, state-owned Air Navigasi (AirNav) issued Notice to Airman that LIA was closed on Sunday at 5:55 pm Central Indonesia Time (WITA) until this morning at 6 am.
Lombok International Airport Meteorology Station (BIL) head Oral Sem Wilar said that flights may be reopened and closed again. “Every hour, we will evaluate the sky conditions,” he said. As the movement of air has been detected since 8 am, flight operations may be closed again tonight for safety reasons.
The airport does not have an advanced device to detect the volcanic ash from Mount Agung. During the day, aircrew can only spot ashes with the naked eyes, something they cannot do at the night.
SUPRIYANTHO KHAFID (CONTROBUTOR)