Australian airlines cancel Indonesian flights again due to ash cloud

Australian tourists to the Indonesian holiday island of Bali are again disrupted by volcanic ash as Qantas' low-cost subsidiary Jetstar and rival Virgin Australia cancel flights.

Virgin Australia said the eruption of Mount Ruang - 150 kilometers west of Denpasar - and unfavorable winds have created unsuitable flying conditions, causing the airline to cancel all flights in and out of Bali on Wednesday.

Jetstar canceled four flights in and out of Bali on Tuesday and delayed two others on Wednesday morning as winds push the ash cloud towards Denpasar airport.

Jetstar said it would continue to monitor the movement of the ash cloud with the latest information from the Volcanic Ash Advisory Center and will resume flying when safe.

Indonesian flag carrier Garuda Indonesia is still operating its Australian services.

Volcanic Ash Advisory Center duty forecaster Grace Legge told Australia's national broadcaster that ash plumes were not blowing over Bali at the moment, however there could be an aviation hazard later on Wednesday.

"Volcanic ash itself, when it gets into the engine, it can get heated up and actually coat parts of the engine," Legge said.

"It can become basically large chunks of glass almost. So if that goes through an engine it definitely will cause problems for it."

In July, thousands of passengers were stranded when Mount Ruang began spewing the corrosive ash.

Both carriers sent extra planes when the ash had cleared to help move the passenger backlog. Endi