Stranded Aussies head home from Bali
More than 6000 stranded travellers will soon be back in Australia from Bali if flying conditions remain clear.
Jetstar and Virgin Australia have resumed services to the Indonesian resort island after a cloud of volcanic ash twice forced the closure of Denpasar airport over the past week.
Jetstar ran 19 services in and out of Bali on Monday, with about 2000 travellers returning to Australia by late Tuesday morning. A further 2400 will be back by Wednesday morning.
Virgin Australia has already brought home 350 passengers on two flights that departed on Monday. That number will have climbed to about 2000 by early on Wednesday. Virgin has also proffered up a list of “alternative” destinations for those yet to commence flights to Bali from Australia.
The two airlines are planning a total of 36 flights in and out of Bali on Tuesday.
Jetstar will operate its usual eight scheduled services but will also run 10 extra flights.
Qantas, which owns Jetstar, is helping service the smaller airline’s domestic routes to free up Jetstar planes for the Bali run.
Virgin Australia will also operate 18 flights into and out of Bali on Tuesday, including eight additional services.
Some stranded passengers have complained about how the drama was handled, citing a lack of information from carriers. Some passengers even complained of facing bankruptcy after being forced to buy new airfares to leave Indonesia.
Jetstar spokesman David Hall agreed things could have been handled better. But he said efforts are being made to improve communications with people who are still stranded.
“It’s fair to say we haven’t been completely perfect in our communications,” he told the ABC.
“We’ve mobilised additional people on the ground, we’re updating travel alerts on jetstar.com and we are communicating by text.”
Both airlines are closely monitoring flying conditions, amid fears the wind could blow the ash cloud from the eruption of Mt Raung back over Denpasar airport.
Mt Raung erupted on July 2, emitting plumes of ash that can choke jet engines.
Email the Travel Weekly team at traveldesk@travelweekly.com.au
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