Having been briefly closed today, Friday, June 29th 2018, since 03.00 Central Indonesia Time, due to volcanic activities of Mount Agung, Bali's Ngurah Rai International Airport has Now been declared reopened for operations starting 14.30 or 2.30 pm.local time. The decision followed an evaluation meeting on Mount Agung held by Ngurah Rai's Airport Authority. And, to ease air traffic congestion, the airport will be in operation 24 hours.
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At the meeting, the Head of Bali's Institute of Tourism, Dewa Gede Ngurah Byomantara, who is concurrently PIC of Bali Tourism Hospitality (Tourism Crisis Center team related to Mount Agung Eruption) explained that the volcanic activity of Mount Agung had reached level III (Caution) when white smoke spewed up to 1,500-2000 meters above sea level. The Volcano Observatory Notice for Aviation (VONA) published on June 28th at 16:00 local time noted that Mt. Agung was then at category Orange. The Bureau of Meteorology, meanwhile, released a Significant Meteorological Information (SIGMET) on June 19th that volcanic ash had spread out ranging from the surface up to an elevation of 16,000 meters or 23,000 feet.
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However, no volcanic ash was discovered over the aerial space of the I Gusti Ngurah Rai Airport itself. Moreover, the spreading volcanic ash that was blown westward by the wind with the speed of 15 knot did not cover the aerial space of the airport. This was also due to the decreasing force and intensity of eruptions from Mount Agung.
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The Himawari Satellite RGB Image at 01:00 hrs Central Indonesia Time revealed that the volcanic ash was detected to move in the Southwest-Northwest direction, away from the aerial space of the airport. Aerodrome Observation results from paper tests also showed NIL results of any volcanic ash fallout detected in the I Gusti Ngurah Rai Airport area.
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Taking all of these technical considerations into account, the decision was made to immediately resume operations of the I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport on June 29th, 2018 commencing at 14:30 Central Indonesia Time. "During this recovery period, the airport will operate 24 hours to normalize flight rotation" said Byomantara.
Following this relieving development, Tourism Minister, Arief Yahya said: "Alhamdulliah(praise to God)!, I hope that Bali will soon recover and activities will return the way they are normally being the number One tourist destination of Indonesia".
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The Bali Tourism Hospitality Team which is in charge of the crisis management related to Mount Agung Eruption is currently also keeping a close watch on the latest developments of volcanic activities, to ensure the safety and convenience of all visitors to the island.
Only Air Traffic Affected, all other tourist activities OPEN as per normal
The Minister also advised countries who had already issued travel advisories to revise and retract these, since conditions are now deemed already safe for travel.
Up to 13:35 West Indonesia Time or 14:35 Central Indonesia Time, 6 countries had issued travel advisories for Indonesia. These are: England, USA, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, and France.
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"We wish to inform that Bali's Ngurah Rai International Airport has officially resumed operations on June 29th commencing 14:30 Central Indonesia Time. To all countries who have issued travel advisories, we sincerely hope that you can make the appropriate revisions and retract this in the not too distant future," said Minister Arief Yahya.
To speed up recovery of flight schedules and operations, the number one international tourist airport of the country will open for a full 24 hours until conditions are back to normal. "Bali is quickly returning to normal. "It was only the air traffic that was interrupted, while all activities, all attractions and accommodations have operated as per normal, "said Minister Arief Yahya.
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