KUTA

Bali’s Ngurah Rai International Airport has resumed operations from Thursday at 2:30 p.m. local time after being closed for the last two days following the eruption of Mount Barujari in Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara.

“Taking into account the weather change, the I Gusti Ngurah Rai airport has resumed operations at 2:30 p.m. local time,” General Manager of PT Angkasa Pura I of the Ngurah Rai Airport Trikora Harjo stated here on Thursday.

The Indonesian Meteorological, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) and the Darwin-based Volcanic Ash Advisory Center (VAAC) of Australia have issued information that the direction of the wind has changed and has blown the volcanic ash away from Bali.

The decision to restart operations at the airport was also based on the fact that it was clear of any volcanic ash.

Earlier, the Bali airport authorities had closed down the airport since November 3 and decided to extend its closure period until Friday morning (November 6) .

“The airport will remain closed until Friday at around 8:45 a.m. Central Indonesian Standard Time (WITA),” General Manager of the Angkasa Pura I of the Ngurah Rai international Airport Trikora Harjo stated in Kuta, Bali on Nov. 5.

The transportation ministry issued a Notice to Airman (Notam) No. A 2479/15 regarding the closure.

Since the morning of November 3 until November 5, some 692 international and domestic flights were cancelled following the Ngurah Rai airport’s closure.

“Our airport is currently affected by the volcanic ash being spewed by the erupting Mount Barujari,” Chief of the Regional IV Airport Authorities Yusfandri Gona stated on Nov. 4.

The cancellations have affected 183 arrivals and 189 departures of domestic flights.

With regard to the international flights, 157 scheduled arrivals and 163 departures have been cancelled.

Five flights were diverted from Bali to Jakarta and Surabaya.

Before resumed operation, Bali’s Ngurah Rai International Airport, the only gate from and into the Indonesian tourist resort province, is still crippled on Thursday morning due to the eruption of Mount Barujari in Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara on Tuesday.

Bali Deputy Governor Ketut Sudikerta who paid an impromptu visit to the airport said the mount eruption and the closure of the airport had negative impact on Bali’s tourism but the local government could not do anything because all this is a natural disaster.

Head of Airport Authority, Region IV, Yusfandri Gona has earlier said that 692 domestic and international flight schedules at the airport were cancelled due to the impact of Mout Barujari eruption.

The flight schedules have been cancelled since the airport was closed on Tuesday (Nov.3) to Thursday (Nov5) at 8.45 Central Indonesian Standard Time (Wita).

The cancelled schedules consisted of 183 arrivals and 189 departures for domestic routes. For international routes, a total 157 arrival schedules and 163 departures were cancelled.

Besides that, five international flights on Wednesday were diverted to Soekarno-Hatta airport in Jakarta and to Surabaya Juanda Airport in East Java.

Three flights returned to bases, namely KLM 835 that served the Singapore-Denpasar route, MXD-308 on Kuala Lumpur-Denpasar route and AXM-374 which flew Kuala Lumpur-Denpasar route.

The authorities have issued a Notice to Airmen No. A2470/15 regarding the temporary closure of the Ngurah Rai international airport, J.A. Barata, a spokesman of the transportation ministry, stated in Jakarta, Wednesday.

“The Ngurah Rai Airport in Bali and the Selaparang Airport (in Mataram, West Nusa Tenggara) are being shut down until Thursday morning at 8 a.m. Central Indonesian Standard Time, and the conditions will be evaluated again tomorrow morning,” he affirmed The National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) reported that Mount Rinjani located in the East, Central, and North Lombok districts erupted again on Tuesday (Nov. 3).

The mount spewed volcanic ash reaching a height of around 3.5 thousand meters dpal, or one thousand meters above the crater of Barujari.

The ash has blanketed the Lombok strait, Bali Island, the Bali strait, and Banyuwangi, according to monitoring data of Terra satellite.

Seven villages in North Lombok District are affected by the volcanic ash.

The West Nusa Tenggara authorities have distributed some four thousand face masks to the local inhabitants.

The airport closure is based on the recommendation by the Darwin-based Volcanic Ash Advisory Center.

The alert status of Mount Rinjani is currently at level II.

Meanwhile, thousands of passengers were stranded at Bali’s Ngurah Rai International Airport on Wednesday due to the eruption of Mount Barujari, a cone inside the larger volcanic caldera of Mount Rinjani in Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara.

“I do not know what I should do. The first thing I must contact my airline,” Andrey Nepomiluev, a Russian who was also stranded at the airport, said.

Andrey planned to fly to Singapore where he would proceed to Petersburg.

“I have no idea how it is going to be handled next,” he affirmed.