A Total Of 16 Flights At Ngurah Rai Airport Canceled Due To The Eruption Of Mount Lewotobi Men

The atmosphere of arriving passengers at I Gusti Ngurah Rai Airport in Badung, Bali, Friday (21/3/2025) during the eruption of Mount Lewotobi Laki in East Flores Regency, East Nusa Tenggara. BETWEEN/Ni Putu Putri Muwantari

BADUNG - I Gusti Ngurah Rai Airport, Bali, recorded that a total of 16 international flights were canceled in a day due to Mount Lewotobi Laki in East Flores Regency, East Nusa Tenggara.

"As of Friday (21/3) at 16.00 WITA, there were a total of 16 international flights canceled by the airline with safety and flight security considerations," said General Manager of I Gusti Ngurah Rai Airport Ahmad Syaugi Shahab, Friday, March 21.

He said the 16 international flights consisted of eight departure routes and eight arrivals.

First, the Australian route is one departure and one arrival via Darwin, one departure and one arrival via Perth, one departure and one arrival via Sydney.

Two departures and two arrivals via Melbourne, as well as one departure and one arrival via Brisbane.

Apart from Australia, the impact of the eruption of Mount Lewotobi Male also canceled one departure and one arrival of the Kuala Lumpur route and one arrival of one departure for the Shanghai route.

"All flights on the canceled Australian route are operated by Jetstar, while the Kuala Lumpur route by Air Asia X and Shanghai by Juneyao Airlines," said Ahmad Syaugi.

Previously, he said that the obstacles due to the eruption of the mountain began to be felt at I Gusti Ngurah Rai Airport since 8:45 WITA, but the airport air space in South Bali itself was not affected.

To anticipate the impact of the spread of volcanic ash on operations, they finally carried out an aerodrome observation through a paper test with negative results, thankfully no volcanic ash was found in the airport area.

"As of this afternoon, Friday (21/3) the airspace at I Gusti Ngurah Rai Airport has not been affected by volcanic ash and the airport is operating normally," continued Ahmad Syaugi.

The airport confirmed that it has an Airport Disaster Management Plan (ADMP) in the form of documents related to airport handling during a natural emergency.

The joint command post in the Airport Operation Control Center (AOCC) room has also been used to monitor the current situation with all relevant stakeholders.

Therefore, specifically for passengers affected, the route is directed to communicate with their respective airlines.

"The airline has notified passengers by email and gave passengers the option of returning funds, rescheduling, or resetting routes," said Ahmad Syaugi, quoted by ANTARA.