Mount Sangeang Api on Sangeang Island in West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) continued to spew volcanic ash on Sunday, leaving thousands of displaced people in dire of clean water and masks and leading to the cancellation of flights.

'€œOn Sunday, there were several tremors and the volcano still spouted smoke and ash,'€ the province'€™s head of the NTB Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD), Wedha Magma Ardhi, told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.

Wedha revealed that his team had arrived at the location in Wera district, Bima regency, and distributed masks, tents and instant food in several locations.

He said people in the districts of Wera, Sape and Ambalawi, which are located near the volcano, were in need of masks and clean water.

'€œThe aid is being transported overland as Bima'€™s Sultan Salahuddin Airport is closed as it is covered in volcanic ash,'€ he added.

Separately, provincial spokesman Fathul Gani confirmed that the airport had been temporarily closed.

'€œFor flight safety, the airport is temporarily closed. But the Sape-Labuhan Bajo ferry port is operating as usual,'€ Fathul said.

Meanwhile, flights resumed to and from Australia'€™s northernmost city of Darwin on Sunday after being suspended for more than a day due to clouds of ash, Associated Press reported.

Friday'€™s eruption sent two plumes of ash over northern Australia on Saturday. More than 30 flights were cancelled and international flights through that air space were rerouted.

International and domestic flights were resuming services through Darwin, a city with a population exceeding 100,000, on Sunday afternoon as ash disbursed over northern Australia, Darwin International Airport spokeswoman Virginia Sanders said.

The major plume affecting Australian aviation swept southeast over the west side of the Northern Territory and as far south as the central Australian city of Alice Springs.

Grace Legge, aviation forecaster from the Darwin Volcanic Ash Advisory Center, said she expected the ash would entirely clear from the Darwin region by early afternoon Sunday.

'€œThe volcano is still erupting, but the ash is not heading toward the Darwin region anymore,'€ she said.

Australia'€™s Civil Aviation Safety Authority warned that volcanic ash could affect all aircraft with piston or jet engines at all flight levels.

Fine particles of pulverized rock consisting mainly of silica contained in volcanic ash clouds can be highly abrasive and damage aircraft engines, structures and windows.

Some flights between Australia and Southeast Asia and all domestic flights operating out of Darwin airport were cancelled on Saturday.

International flights to and from Australia to Singapore, East Timor and Bali were among those cancelled, including those departing from Australia'€™s eastern seaboard after an ash cloud from Sangeang Api'€™s initial eruption on Friday evening tracked across central Australia.

All flights into and out of Darwin International Airport were cancelled.

Qantas Airways Ltd said it had cancelled all flights to and from Darwin on Saturday and its budget unit Jetstar had grounded nine international and domestic flights.

Virgin Australia Holdings cancelled all flights into and out of Darwin and all flights into and out of Bali on Saturday evening, spokeswoman Jacqui Abbott confirmed.

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