Eruption of Indonesian volcano Mt Raung grounded 13 Jetstar flights to and from Bali, including one leaving Darwin

ASH from an Indonesian volcano prevented as many as 180 tourists from flying between Darwin and Bali.

CREDIT: Instagram Mount Raung in Java (File)

ASH from an Indonesian volcano stopped as many as 180 tourists flying between Darwin and Bali early yesterday.

The Darwin flight, which was scheduled for a 12.35am departure, was among 13 Jetstar flights cancelled, both to and from Denpasar.

A Jetstar spokesman said the decision to cancel the flights was made after advice from the Darwin Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre.

“We regret the disruption this weather event has caused our passengers,” he said.

“We regret the impact cancellations have had on our passengers, particularly during the busy school holiday period.”

Mount Raung, in Eastern Java, has been erupting since Sunday, with Indonesian officials upgrading their alert status from two to three (the highest level is four).

Flights leaving from Adelaide, Melbourne, Perth, Cairns and Singapore were also cancelled, forcing the airline to book hundreds of stranded passengers on different flights home.

The airline resumed normal operations shortly after 11am.

Late yesterday afternoon, a Darwin Airport spokeswoman said all upcoming flights were scheduled to fly as normal.

The Jetstar spokesman said the airline would continue to monitor conditions, and cancel services if flying conditions became unsafe.

The Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre is one of nine around the world, and monitors all active volcanoes in South-East Asia.

The centres were established in response to two near-disasters in Indonesia in 1982, in which two jumbo jets suddenly lost engine power over Indonesia.

Volcanic ash has caused hundreds of millions of dollars of damage to jet engines since it was first flagged as a danger in the 1980s.

The intense heat inside aircraft engines can cause ash to melt, clogging the engines.

The last major disruption to Darwin flight schedules was in late May last year, when a plume of ash from Mount Sangeang Api grounded flights for several days.