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Domestic, international flights canceled over Lewotobi ash cloud
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Passengers look at an electronic board displaying canceled flights at Ngurah Rai International Airport in Bali on Nov. 13, 2024, after the nearby Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki volcano catapulted an ash tower kilometers into the sky. (AFP/Sony Tumbelaka)
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ozens of international and domestic flights to and from the popular tourist destinations of Bali, Lombok and Labuan Bajo were canceled on Wednesday after the nearby Mount Lewotobi Laki-laki spewed an ash tower into the sky a day before.
At least a dozen eruptions of the volcano in East Flores, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), were recorded by the Volcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation Center (PVMBG) on Tuesday, with one spewing volcanic ash as high as 9,000 meters above the summit at noon.
Following the latest eruption on Tuesday night, the Lewotobi Laki-laki Observatory Post issued the highest level of notice for aviation authorities, warning them of imminent ash columns with heights of over 6,000 m above sea level.
The Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) said the volcanic ash drifted to the west of NTT and reached the sky above Lombok in neighboring West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) province at an altitude of 9,100 meters above sea level on Wednesday afternoon.
The operator of Bali’s I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport, PT Angkasa Pura Indonesia, recorded at least 26 domestic and 64 international flight cancellations to and from the airport on Wednesday, including from Australia and Malaysia, even though the volcanic ash had not affected the airport’s airspace.
"PT Angkasa Pura and all airport management teams are constantly monitoring the situation and hope that everything can return to normal soon," Ngurah Rai general manager Ahmad Syaugi Shahab said on Wednesday.
Continual eruptions and tremors have been occurring since an initial major eruption on Nov. 3, forcing thousands to flee their homes for safety.
