Flights delayed up to 16 hours in Bali after Mount Agung volcano eruption
Flights delayed up to 16 hours in Bali after Mount Agung volcano eruption

Flights in and out of Bali’s airport have resumed following an eruption of the Mount Agung volcano on Friday night, which spread ash over the Indonesian island’s south.

The ash cleared from the airspace by morning and operations slowly returned to normal. Although, some passengers experienced delays of 16 hours by the time the fourth and final delayed Virgin Australia flight took off from Denpasar International Airport.

There still remains a four kilometre exclusion zone around the crater, with trekkers and hikers asked to stay well away from the area.

The national disaster agency said Friday night’s eruption lasted four minutes and 30 seconds, spewing lava and incandescent rocks about three kilometres from the crater.

Nine villages experienced thick ash fall. But the agency said it wasn’t raising the alert level for the volcano and its exclusion zone remains a four kilometre radius around the crater.

The Directorate General of Air Transportation said four flights to Bali were diverted and five flights out of the popular tourist destination were cancelled because of volcanic ash.

Agung became active again in 2017 after more than a half century of slumber following a major eruption in 1963. The eruption in 1963 killed about 1100 people, as reported by 9 News.