Jetstar and Virgin Australia Started Flying People Back From Bali

12th Nov 2015

As volcanic ash cloud from Mount Rinjani continues to plague air services coming in and out of Bali, somewhat more favourable flying conditions have allowed Jetstar and Virgin to operate return flights from the Indonesian island. However, inbound flights to Bali are still grounded.

In a statement regarding this decision Jetstar wrote:

"Flying conditions are forecast to remain favourable tomorrow, with satellite imagery from around Bali indicating we'll be able to fly daytime services. At this stage, we plan to operate up to 11 recovery flights from Bali to Australia tomorrow to bring another 2,200 customers home. We'll connect any customers flying to other airports in Australia on to domestic flights as needed."

Jetstar's statement continued:

"While we're hopeful conditions will be safe for us to operate all services tomorrow, experience over the past week has shown the ash cloud position can change quickly. We will update customers if our flying plans change. Jetstar has contacted customers booked on recovery flights directly. All originally scheduled flights to and from Bali have been cancelled."

Virgin Australia has also issued a statement about return flights from Bali for Thursday. It reads:

"Flying conditions in the vicinity of Denpasar Airport remain favourable today? Virgin Australia is planning to operate the remainder of today's scheduled flights from Bali to Australia, providing conditions do not deteriorate. Virgin Australia is prioritizing those passengers who have urgent medical needs in Australia on these flights. All services departing Australia for Bali today remain cancelled."

Both Jetstar and Virgin Australia have cancelled flights in and out of Bali since 3rd November due to eruptions and volcanic ash clouds sprouting in the air from the nearby Mount Rinjani, which is located on the island of Lombok.