Flights from Australia to Bali were cancelled on Wednesday this week after another flare up from the Mt Ruang volcano.
Both companies are flying again, as of Thursday morning. The situation is being monitored with the help of the Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre.
Volcanic ash is hard and abrasive, and can quickly cause significant wear to propellers and blades, and scratch cockpit windows, impairing visibility. The ash can also contaminate fuel and water systems, jam gears, and make engines flame out. The ash can also melt in the combustion chamber, creating a ceramic mass which sticks to various vital parts of the plane, which can lead to total engine failure in extreme cases.
The latest travel alerts are available from Jetstar here, and from Virgin here
The Bali Hotels Association has also issued this statement, in the light of the recent volcano flare-up :
“In order to ease any inconvenience related with those unfortunate situation, BHA has advised its members to extend the previous policy, where the Best Available Rate (also known as BAR) should be proposed to passengers that need to extend their stay, when requests are made directly to the hotel. For bookings that are made through a third party, contracted rates apply. For passengers that cannot come to Bali or will arrive later than original dates booked, BHA members are recommended to accept, at no charge, to re-book their stay (based on availability and rates during new requested period) until 20 December of 2015.
In addition to the above, BHA member hotels will also offer guests a 10% discount on regular F&B prices off the regular printed a la carte menus for any customer visiting another BHA member hotel up until 20th December! (ie not valid in the hotel they are staying in).”
A list of Bali Hotels Association member hotels is here.
