News.com.au, AAP January 28, 2011 7:20AM
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| Stranded passengers wait at Ngurah Rai airport in Bali's city of Denpasar after their plane to Singapore was cancelled / AFP |
- Volcanic ash floating over Indonesia
- Forces flights to be grounded, cancelled
- Hundreds of Aussies face holiday disruption
A FIERY volcano is causing holiday misery for hundreds of Australians with airlines cancelling flights as a large ash cloud floats in the skies above Indonesia.
In echoes of last year's Icelandic volcano chaos, the eruption of 2329-metre-high Tengger Caldera, in east Java, led to the cancellation of about a dozen flights and left passengers stranded on Thursday night.
Virgin Blue and Jetstar both cancelled flights to and from Denpasar, the main airport serving the popular holiday island of Bali.
Jetstar cancelled five flights and diverted another which was already in the air.
The budget airline, a subsidiary of the national carrier Qantas, said it would continue to monitor the situation and advise of any additional cancellations.
Virgin Blue, at 8pm (AEDT) yesterday, said all its flights to and from Bali were cancelled for the next 24 hours.
A spokeswoman said three or four flights were grounded last night and another two cancelled this morning.
"Virgin Blue would like to advise that, as a precautionary measure, all flights to and from Bali have been cancelled for the next 24-hours,'' the airline said in a statement.
It advised guests left stranded in Denpasar to remain in their accommodation.
Air Asia said that none of its flights to Bali had been affected.
A Garuda Indonesia flight from Sydney to Denpasar was listed as having departed at 12.20pm (AEDT) yesterday.
Qantas does not fly to the city.
The Jetstar aircraft due to fly to Denpasar on Thursday were from Sydney and Darwin.
Three flights from Denpasar to Perth, Sydney and Darwin were also grounded by the budget airline.
A sixth Jetstar flight from Perth to Denpasar was diverted to Darwin and is due to return to Perth.
"Safety of our passengers and crew is Jetstar's number one priority and as a result the airline has cancelled tonight's flights between Australia and Denpasar (Bali),'' a Jetstar statement said.
"The airline is closely monitoring the situation and will advise passengers should there be any further impact.
"No other services are affected at this stage.''
The Darwin Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre, part of the Bureau of Meteorology, issued an advisory yesterday saying Tengger Caldera had erupted, with ash extending 200 nautical miles (370km) northeast.
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