Australia : Darwin flights resuming after volcanic ash distruption

FLIGHTS between Australia and Bali have mostly resumed as ash plumes from a volcano on the eastern Indonesian island of Sumbawa continue to disperse.

Two Jetstar flights out of Perth and bound for Denpasar were cancelled on Monday morning but services scheduled for later in the day were expected to go ahead.

Volcanic ash is considered very dangerous to aircraft as the fine particles can damage engines, according to CNN.

Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss said it could be days before Australian services return to normal.

“With the volcano continuing to erupt, we can still see a significant amount of ash around the volcano at the moment,” said Emile Jansons, manager of the Darwin Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre, to Reuters. “Our biggest concern is that the boundary of the ash cloud is not very far away from Bali and if there is another larger eruption then the ash could move and affect that airspace.”

Indonesia is prone to frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. There are approximately 130 active volcanoes in Indonesia.

The island of Sangeang Api has no permanent residents after the left during an eruption back in 1988.

Farmers had been told to leave the area as well, according to CNN.

Tens of thousands of people fled their homes when a volcano erupted in east Java back in February. Several people were killed as a result of the eruption, according to Reuters.

Agencies/Canadajournal