ALERT: Bali- Airport Reopens (November 29, 2017)
November 29, 2017
Bali’s international airport, Ngurah Rai (Denpasar), reopened today after closing Monday because of the eruption of Mount Agung volcano. The volcano is still erupting, but ash, reaching 25,000 feet, has not been detected at the airport yet.
Reuters reports:
The airport on the Indonesian holiday island of Bali reopened on Wednesday as wind blew away ash spewed out by a volcano, giving airlines a window to get tourists out while authorities stepped up efforts to get thousands of villagers to move to safety.
Operations at the airport – the second-busiest in Indonesia – have been disrupted since the weekend when Mount Agung, in east Bali, began belching out huge clouds of smoke and ash, and authorities warned of an “imminent threat” of a major eruption.
“Bali’s international airport started operating normally,” air traffic control provider AirNav said in a statement, adding that operations resumed at 2:28 p.m. (0628 GMT).
The reopening of the airport, which is about 60 km (37 miles) away from Mount Agung, followed a downgrade in an aviation warning to one level below the most serious, with the arrival of more favorable winds
CBS News reports:
Bali’s international airport was reopened on Wednesday, although a volcano on the island is still erupting. Indonesia’s president has urged anyone still within the exclusion zone to get out “for the sake of their safety.”
Airport spokesman Arie Ahsannurohim said ash from the Mount Agung volcano had drifted south and southeast, leaving clean space above the airport for planes to land and take off. The reopening came Wednesday afternoon in Indonesia.
The airport had been closed since Monday morning, disrupting travel for tens of thousands of people.
President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo ordered all concerned ministries and agencies, as well as the military and police, to help the Bali government cope.
Authorities on Monday told 100,000 people to leave an area extending up to six miles from the volcano. Some though have stayed.
Airport spokesman Ari Ahsanurrohim said more than 440 flights were canceled Tuesday, affecting nearly 60,000 passengers, about the same as Monday. Without aircraft, getting in or out of Bali requires traveling hours by land and taking a boat to another island, enduring choppy seas in Bali’s rainy season.
Ahsanurrohim said Wednesday morning that volcanic ash had not been detected at the airport yet, but observations from the Darwin Volcanic Ash Advisory Center showed the ash had reached an altitude of 25,000 feet.
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