MORE than 2000 Australian passengers are stranded in Bali or waiting to board outgoing flights to the holiday island after Denpasar Airport was again closed because of volcanic ash which threatens aircraft safety.
Travellers are expected to remain stranded in Bali and Lombok until Sunday at the earliest, with Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre, based in Darwin, forecasting significant ash cloud to remain over the region over the weekend.
Indonesian officials have said Denpasar will not reopen until at Saturday and both Jetstar and Virgin have allocated a dozen extra services to deal with stranded passengers once the route is cleared for flights.
Virgin today cancelled six return flights to Bali and Jestar cancelled eight, after flights on proceeding days were also affected by the impact of the volcanic eruption at Mt Raung on Java.
The Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre uses ground based and satellite observations, pilot reports, and sophisticated forecasting models to monitor the current location and forecast movement of volcanic ash.
Both Jetstar and Virgin have said there will be additional flights between Australia and Bali as soon as conditions improve.
Virgin customers can change their booking to another flight within 14 days at no extra charge or receive a full travel credit. Virgin is advising customers to call 13 67 89 to rearrange their bookings.
Mt Raung erupted on July 2. The volcano is about 150km to the west of Denpasar airport in East Java, the main airport for those heading to Bali.
The latest round of cancellations began on Wednesday evening. Jetstar has so far been unable to consider flying any passengers out of Bali because it has no aircraft there.
A spokesman said the airline had to first fly passengers to Bali, before it could fly anyone home.
A Virgin spokeswoman said it was hard to predict weather conditions and the airline was keeping a close eye on the situation and taking advice from the Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre based in Darwin.
Melbourne resident Brendan McCarthy was told his flight home from Bali on Friday had been cancelled until at least Monday.
Other travellers were being told their flights could be delayed until July 23, he said.
“We’ve been here for two weeks, have changed accommodation three times now,” Mr McCarthy told AAP.
As well as missing work, medical appointments and sporting commitments, he and his girlfriend are also facing additional unplanned travel costs that they hope to recoup through travel insurance.
“A fantastic holiday is now having a really bad ending,” Mr McCarthy said.
Air Asia and Garuda Indonesia continue to fly between Australia and Bali via other Bali airports.
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