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Roundup: Indonesia's volcano eruption strands tens of thousands of air passengers

Xinhua, July 13, 2015 Adjust font size:

Tens of thousands of passengers have been stranded in Indonesia's airports, following airport closure order by the authorities due to the eruption of Mount Raung volcano in East Java province.

Indonesia's state-run administrator firm PT Angkasa Pura I said that in Bali International airport, the busiest airport affected by the closure, some 39,715 passengers from 414 flights failed to go to their destination cities.

"That data was compiled from Thursday to Sunday until 16:00 p.m. local time," Farid Indra Nugraha said here on Sunday.

Indonesian authorities closed the airport again on Sunday afternoon after it briefly reopened on Saturday. Similar measures were also taken in Blimbingsari airport in East Java's city of Banyuwangi.

The Transportation Ministry issued the airport closure order through NOTAM (Notice to the Airmen) on Thursday night, affecting five airports located in three provinces of East Java, Bali and West Nusa Tenggara (NTB).

Reports said the volcanic ash was spewed up to 1 km above the volcano, drifting east and southeast.

Besides the passengers, Indonesia's state-run airline firm Garuda Indonesia was among the party suffered most from the airport closure. It has canceled hundreds of flights to airports affected by the eruption.

Garuda Indonesia Director General Arief Wibowo said on Sunday that the firm has yet to calculate the losses due to the closure of the five airports in the last few days.

"For instance, on the first day alone (Friday) we canceled 112 flights. We suffer from opportunity loss for sure," Arief said, adding that the losses were still being calculated at present.

In response to the situation, Garuda Indonesia has provided options for its passengers to refund their tickets or reschedule their flights.

Indonesia sits on the world's volcano fault line from the western tip of Sumatra, down to Java and several islands in eastern Java. Volcanoes are also active in Sulawesi island in the eastern region.

Mount Raung volcano is one of the 129 active volcanoes in Indonesia. Another volcano in North Sumatra, Sinabung, has been actively spewing volcanic materials in the last few years, displacing thousands of people living nearby. Endi