Mount Rinjani Active Again, Forces Virgin and Jetstar to Cancel Bali Flights Again

27th Nov 2015

No luck for those who wish to travel from Australia to Bali, Indonesia or back, as both Australia carriers that operate this route, Virgin and Jetstar had to cancel their flights for the umpteen time in the last couple of weeks.

The reason, just like before, was the activity from the nearby Mount Rinjani volcano, which is once again spitting ash clouds into the air and reducing visibility for air travel.

This is the third time in the last few months (since August) that flights between Australia and Bali have been canceled for this reason.

Virgin even turned back its 9:00 AM flight from Perth to Denpasar about an hour into its flight and has also returned its other two flights heading to Bali back to Melbourne and Brisbane.

The airline was unable to give the customers at Perth Airport when their flight will take off again, so most are now looking towards other companies for an alternative.

A spokesman for Virgin Australia said the airline will look into resuming Australia-Bali flights on weekend, but only if it gets a go ahead from the Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre. He said:

"The safety of our guests and crew is our highest priority."

In the meantime, Jetstar has also returned to flights headed for Bali mid-air and has also cancelled all other return flights scheduled for the route until further notice.

A spokeswoman for Jetstar said:

"We've been advised that the current ash cloud close to Bali is of a lesser scale than we have seen recently so we are hopeful that our customers won't be disrupted for extended periods."

Jetstar also explained it will decide whether to continue flying to Denpasar on Friday after consulting with the Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre.

Of course, passengers who intend to travel to Bali should check for updates with their airlines.