BALI FLIGHTS GROUNDED
THOUSANDS of travellers have been stranded in Bali after the main airport’s closure until at least today as Mt Agung volcano appears ready to erupt.
Yesterday, as news of the airport’s closure at 7am was announced, thousands of tourists descended on Bali’s Ngurah Rai airport, scrambling to reorganise flights.
But with uncertainty about when the volcano will erupt and how long the airport will remain closed, travellers al- ready there face an uncertain wait to find out when and how they get home.
Many have found themselves without travel insurance, as travel insurers excluded the volcano from policies taken out after the initial eruption began last week.
Many Australians had been due to fly out yesterday and today and have been told it will be days before new flights are organised.
Volcanic ash and smoke is now reaching 3400m above the volcano’s crater and had travelled over the Bali airport, forcing its closure.
The Volcanology and Geological Hazards Mitigation Centre has increased the alert level of Mt Agung to the high- est level amid fears the fullscale eruption is imminent. In addition the exclusion zone around the crater has now been extended from 7.5km to 8-10km and villagers in the area have been urged to evacuate to shelters where almost 25,000 people are now housed. Authorities yesterday placed covers over the engines of 24 aircraft on the apron of Bali airport in a bid to protect them from ash cloud. As of yesterday, a total of 445 flights in and out of Bali had been affected, including 196 international flights and 249 domestic flights.