| Volcanic ash flight cancellations leave more Queenslanders trapped in Bali |
Hundreds of Australian holidaymakers remain stranded in Bali, despite the reopening of the Indonesian holiday island's airport, which was closed due to ash cloud from the erupting volcano Mount Rinjani last week.
Virgin Australia scheduled four flights from the island on Sunday afternoon but subsequently cancelled all but one after a deterioration in atmospheric conditions.
"The latest advice from our team of meteorologists, senior pilots and the Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre is that conditions in the vicinity of Denpasar Airport have deteriorated during the course of the day," the airline said in a statement.
"Mt Rinjani continues to erupt and the ash cloud is moving back towards Denpasar Airport.
"Therefore unfortunately Virgin Australia has had to cancel three out of the four flights that were scheduled to depart Bali for Australia later today (VA40, VA44 and VA54).
"Fortunately, flight VA60 was able to depart Bali when the ash cloud was still a safe distance away from the airport and will arrive in Perth today."
The airline will make a further announcement on Monday's scheduled flights on Sunday night.
Jetstar passengers returned to Perth on two recovery flights, though the airline also cancelled another Perth-bound flight and a Melbourne-bound service due to lingering cloud at Denpasar airport from the volcano eruption on the nearby island of Lombok.
Air Asia, which operates a number of Australian services, has returned to normal scheduling, while most other major airlines using the airport are also operating normally.
Just one Virgin Australia has departed Bali since the airport was closed on Tuesday, a Perth service early Sunday afternoon. There have been unconfirmed reports four empty Virgin aircraft left Australia on Sunday to return Australian holidaymakers home but they were forced to turn back when hazy conditions made it impossible to land at Denpasar. A flight bound for Brisbane was cancelled just half an hour before it was due to leave on Sunday afternoon.
Yepoon's Gaye O'Brien has had four flights from Bali cancelled since Tuesday.
The cancellation left holidaymakers scrambling to retrieve their luggage and rebook flights. The airline has provided accommodation for the affected passengers in Kuta. Yeppoon author Gaye O'Brien flew to Bali on October 29 for a five day conference near Ubud, in the Balinese mountains, and was due to return to Brisbane on Tuesday, November 3, the first day Ngurah Rai International Airport was closed.
She has since had three further flight cancellations, including one that was due to leave for Brisbane at 2.15pm Sunday. "I've never had so many flights cancelled, I've never experienced anything like it," she said. "I'm keen to get home, I'm feeling pretty dazed and confused." Ms O'Brien said the airline had brought forward the flight time on Sunday from it's original post-midnight departure time to early afternoon, leaving many people scrambling to get to the airport at short notice, before ultimately having the flight cancelled.
"They have been good with the emails, though I spoke to a lot of other people and they received nothing," she said. "They're doing their best. This is beyond their control and here they are they are putting us up, they are probably just as frustrated as we are."
Virgin Australia flights operating from Denpasar (Bali) to Australia on Sunday 8 November 2015:
VA60 DPS PER - STD – 1330L – Operated as scheduled Virgin
Australia flights cancelled to and from Denpasar
(Bali) on Sunday 8 November 2015: VA40 DPS BNE – ***Rescheduled to 0115L
(Cancelled at 4.45pm AEDT today) VA54 DPS MEL – ***Rescheduled to 1535L
(Cancelled at 4.45pm AEDT today) VA44 DPS BNE - STD – 1615L (Cancelled at 4.45pm AEDT today)
VA49 MEL-DPS STD 09:15L
VA41 BNE-DPS STD 10:10L
VA65 SYD-DPS STD 11:20L
VA55 PER-DPS STD 08:50L
VA 33 ADL DPS - STD – 1705L
VA 43 BNE DPS - STD – 1730L
VA 70 DPS SYD - STD – 2110L
VA 64 DPS SYD - STD – 0105L (Next day scheduled departure) Jetstar flight cancellations:
Sunday, 8 November 2015 (listed by flight number) From Indonesia
JQ44 – Bali-Melbourne (was delayed to 1640, now cancelled)
JQ107 – Bali-Perth (was revised to 1540, now cancelled)
JQ38 – Bali-Sydney JQ58 – Bali-Brisbane JQ82 – Bali-Darwin (departs 9 November)
JQ91 – Bali-Cairns (departs 9 November) JQ128 – Bali-Adelaide To Indonesia JQ37
– Sydney-Bali JQ43 – Melbourne-Bali
JQ47 – Brisbane-Bali
JQ83 – Darwin-Bali (departs 9 November)
JQ90 – Cairns-Bali
JQ106 – Perth-Bali
JQ110 – Perth-Bali
JQ127 – Adelaide-Bali.
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