REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, DENPASAR -- Operations at Bali's I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport were temporarily halted on Friday, from 3 a.m. to 7 p.m. Central Indonesian Time, following the eruption of Mount Agung. Volcanic ash is drifting fast, an official said.
"So we decided to temporarily halt the airport's operations," General Manager of PT Angkasa Pura I of the I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport of Bali Yanus Suprayogi noted here on Friday.
The decision was taken after a coordination meeting with the Area IV Airport Authority, Airnav Indonesia, Meteorology Climatology and Geophysics Agency, airlines, and ground handling units on Friday morning. Transportation Ministry's Directorate General of Air Transportation has issued a notice to airmen on Ngurah Rai airport's closure.
The activity of Mount Agung in Bali has been increasing since Thursday, with gas and thin ash being spewed continuously.
Also read: Semarang-Denpasar flight cancelled due to Mt Agung eruption
The Darwin Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre Bureau of Meteorology has forecast that Mount Agung's volcanic ash would be dispersed at a height of 23 thousand feet, with a speed of 10 knots. Suprayogi noted that the pilot's observation revealed volcanic ash could be found in air space at altitude of 15 thousand to 23 thousand feet, drifting towards the west and southwest.
Satellite imagery from the Himawari weather satellite captured from 7 p.m. to midnight Central Indonesian Time on Thursday showed that volcanic ash from Mount Agung had spread quickly in the region, close to the airspace of the I Gusti Ngurah Rai Airport. At 1 a.m. local time, the satellite detected movement of volcanic ash in the west-southwest and covered the airport's aerodrome.
On Thursday, some airlines had decided to cancel 48 domestic and international flights to the Ngurah Rai Airport, thereby affecting 8,334 passengers.
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