Flights to Indonesia's Bali resume after disruption by volcano eruption

Jakarta: All flights to and from the Indonesian resort island of Bali resumed on Thursday after being cancelled or delayed due to eruptions of Mount Lewotobi Laki-laki, officials said. Mount Lewotobi Laki-laki, located in East Nusa Tenggara province, erupted on Tuesday, spewing ash 11 km (7 miles) high. Eighty-seven flights to and from Bali, consisting of 66 international and 21 domestic flights, were affected on Wednesday by the eruption, the Bali airport operator said in a statement. These included connections to Australia, Singapore, Vietnam and Malaysia.

On Thursday, flights from Bali departed on schedule to Australia, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia and China, Gede Eka Sandi Asmadi, an official at Bali airport, said in a statement.

These flights were operated by airlines including Malaysia Airlines, Virgin Australia, JetStar and Singapore Airlines, Asmadi added.

"Until now, all the operations have been running smoothly, both departures and arrivals," Asmadi said.

Flights operated by Qantas and its low-cost carrier JetStar were scheduled to operate as normal on Thursday, the company said.

A number of flights operated by AirAsia Malaysia and AirAsia Indonesia to and from Bali, Lombok and Labuan Bajo, which were cancelled since Wednesday, have also resumed, the airline said.

Two airports in East Nusa Tenggara province reopened on Thursday after being temporarily closed on Wednesday.

However, authorities extended the closure of Fransiskus Xaverius Seda airport in Maumere until Friday as there was still some volcanic ash in the air posing a risk to flights, the airport's operator said in a post on social media.

Dozens of residents living in three villages nearest to the volcano have been evacuated, the local disaster mitigation agency said. According to Indonesia's volcanology agency, Lewotobi has erupted 427 times this year. Tuesday's eruption is the largest since November last year when it erupted several times, and killed at least 9 people.

Indonesia sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire, an area of high seismic activity atop multiple tectonic plates.