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Wings Air flight from Semarang to Denpasar cancelled due to volcanic ash
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Thick smoke emanates from Mount Agung, as seen from Datah village in Karangasem, Bali, on June 29. (Antara/Nyoman Budhiana)
S
ixty-nine Wings Air passengers had their flight to Denpasar, Bali, cancelled on Friday following the closure of I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport due to volcanic ash emanating from Mount Agung in Karangasem regency.
Wings Air flight IW 1802 was scheduled to depart for Denpasar from Ahmad Yani International Airport in Semarang, Central Java, at 6 a.m. local time.
“All tickets will be refunded,” said Dian Permata Sari, head of the communications and legal section of state airport operator Angkasa Pura I, at Ahmad Yani airport on Friday.
National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) spokesperson Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said volcanic material had been spewing constantly from Mt. Agung’s crater since 10:30 a.m. local time on Thursday , causing volcanic ash to rain in areas west and southwest of the volcano.
Himawari satellite data from the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) show that volcanic ash had covered the air space above Ngurah Rai airport.
“That’s why based on a coordination meeting on the handling of the impact of the Mt. Agung eruption on flight operations at Ngurah Rai airport, at 12:05 a.m. local time on Friday, we decided that an airport closure would take effect from 3 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Friday. A notice to airmen has been issued on the matter. An evaluation will be conducted again at noon on Friday,” said Dian.
She added that the airport was closed for safety reasons. Several airlines operating at Ahmad Yani airport canceled their flights on Thursday. (ebf)
