Bali volcano: delays continue as Qantas, Jetstar and Virgin Australia resume flights

Five-year-old Audrey Nordbye’s dream Bali trip is now a nightmare. She’s stuck with her two big sisters and dad due to flight delays from the volcano as mum waits at home in Australia.

The Nordbye sisters’ first big overseas adventure has turned into a hellish ordeal with five-year-old Audrey begging to go home to mummy in Australia and 16-year-old Emily potentially missing a crucial VCE exam as they face a 10 wait for a replacement flight.

Aldi store manager Aaron Nordbye and his partner Hariet took Emily, Audrey and Ava, 14, on the dream trip to celebrate his 40th birthday.

Aldi store manager Aaron Nordbye and his girls are stranded in Bali due to the volcano.

They were meant to return to Melbourne on November 12 after a blissful eight days away but due to the flight delays from a volcanic ash cloud, Virgin has told the family the earliest they can return now is November 22.

“It has been extremely stressful on all of us and doesn’t feel like an extended holiday with all the extra costs of accommodation and food and the kids missing school and potentially VCE exams, missing work and the kids being away from family,” Mr Nordbye said.

“I was trained as a commercial pilot, so I understand why the flights were cancelled due to the volcanic activity.

“However, the lack of effort to help affected travellers has been completely substandard, and I would be embarrassed to work for Virgin right now.”

Aaron Nordbye of Melbourne, his partner Hariet and daughters Emily, 16, Ava, 14, and Audrey, 5, were having a great time in Bali.

The Nordbye girls are distraught at being separated from their mum for so long.

Mr Nordbye said the number he was given to call by airport staff for Virgin could not be reached off his Indonesian SIM card.

For the past four days, he has been making a daily trek to the airport as well as asking family back home to call Virgin on his behalf.

It wasn’t until Friday that he was finally given the tentative November 22 return flight date.

“It is very difficult for (the girls). They do video call (their mother) every day, but they just want to be home back in their own beds,” Mr Nordbye said.

NURSE’S BALI NIGHTMARE

It’s luck of the draw for stranded Australians trying to get home from Bali as bad weather resulting from the recent volcanic eruption continues to play havoc with flights in and out of Denpasar.

A Darwin registered nurse Nakisha Wrenn, 28, who was on a girls’ trip to Bali to “relax” said she too had endured a “nightmare” trying to return home.

“Getting home has been a nightmare. We were supposed to fly home Wednesday with Jetstar. They cancelled us and said we couldn’t get on a flight till the 21st. We then booked with Batik Air for Wednesday night at 11:40 to go to Brisbane. That got cancelled and now we are currently in Singapore after forking out another $1200 waiting for our flight to Darwin,” she said.

Nakisha Wrenn, 28, of Darwin, has endured a "nightmare" trying to get back home after a girls trip in Bali. Picture: Supplied

Ms Wren is arguing for Jetstar to do more.

“We were asking if we could do connecting flights and kept getting told “it’s not within your recovery options” – like what does that even mean? We are stranded in a different country,” she said.

“They should be adding more flights once the ash clears and trying their best to accommodate to people’s needs not giving them one flight and being done with it.

“I’m just very fortunate I have a good travel insurance and can afford to front myself to get home. There would be families and people out there who can’t afford that and it’s sad that the airlines leave them stranded.”

HUNDREDS OF CALLS FOR HELP

A command centre that helps Aussie travellers in strife has been “inundated” with hundreds of calls for assistance since Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki began spewing hot ash into the air last week.

Thousands of Aussies holidaying in Bali have been left stranded as a result of flight cancellations due to the volcanic ash pumped into the air over the week.

World Travel Protection global chief medical officer Derrick Tin said no requests for urgent medical evacuation had been received.

But the situation is being closely monitored by the travel group, which revealed it had helped hundreds of stranded Aussies rebook cancelled flights and find alternative accommodation.

At least 800 calls for help have been received by World Travel Protection since the eruption.

Dr Tin revealed the travel group was also helping source medication for people whose prescriptions were running out.

the volcanic eruption in Indonesia.

SOME FLIGHTS RESUME FROM BALI

Qantas, Jetstar and Virgin Australia issued statements on Thursday confirming that normal operations between Australia and Denpasar were back on track after it was deemed safe to fly, and revealed additional flights had been put on to relieve stranded passengers.

However, a look at the departure status of flights leaving the airport on Thursday evening revealed some passengers were having more luck than others with flights still being postponed or cancelled at short notice.

A Qantas flight supposed to leave for Sydney at 9.30pm local time was postponed.

A Perth-bound Jetstar flight meant to leave at 9.45pm was delayed due to bad weather as was Jetstar’s 10.15pm Melbourne flight and 10.20pm Sydney flight.

Departures from Denpasar International Airport were still experiencing cancellations and delays due to the volcanic eruption on Thursday night.

However a Melbourne-bound Virgin flight departed on time at 10pm as did a 10.10pm Malindo Air plane headed to Brisbane, a 10.30 Virgin plane to Sydney and a 11pm Citilink flight to Perth.

Travellers are urged to continue to closely monitor the status of their flights via both the airlines’ website and the flight status tool on Denpasar airport’s page.

It was earlier feared the ash cloud could leave affected passengers stranded for weeks.

In a statement, Qantas said teams had been “working through the night to closely monitor the evolving situation and assess when it’s safe to fly”.

Passengers look at an electronic board displaying cancelled flights at the Ngurah Rai International Airport. Picture: AFP

A satellite image made available by the European Space Agency shows Mount Lewotobi Laki Laki spewing ash and smoke. Picture: AFP

“In good news, conditions this morning have improved allowing us to resume operations from today between Australia and Denpasar on both Jetstar and Qantas,” the airline said.

“We will continue to monitor the changing conditions and volcanic activity and work on plans to operate more recovery flights using aircraft from across the Group so that we can get customers on their way as quickly as possible.”

Six return Jetstar flights departed on Thursday to Denpasar from various locations around Australia, including four scheduled planes and two ad hoc recovery flights.

A third ad hoc flight from Denpasar to Sydney will fly on Friday morning.

Australia passengers co-ordinate with airport officials as their flight was delayed again on Thursday. Picture AFP.

Virgin Australia said its meteorology team had continued to closely monitor the situation.

“From today (14 November), we will now resume all scheduled flights in and out of Denpasar,” the airline said.

“We will continue to contact guests whose flights have been cancelled to accommodate them on recovery flights in the coming days.

“We sincerely regret any disruption these cancellations have caused and assure our guests that our team is working diligently to rebook all impacted guests to their destinations as safely and promptly as possible.”

Jetstar is sending three recovery flights to Bali. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Nicholas Eagar

Jetstar and Qantas are offering people who have booked flights to and from Bali between 14 and 17 November and who no longer wish to travel to rebook their flight at no extra charge for up to 21 days later, depending on availability.

They can also cancel their booking and receive a credit voucher to the value of their unused flights.

Meanwhile, up to five Virgin Australia flights were affected on Tuesday and another 10 on Wednesday.

The carrier is offering impacted passengers scheduled to travel between November 13-16 to rebook to another Virgin Australia flight within 14 dates of their original departure date at no extra charge.

They can also cancel their booking to receive a refund, or a travel credit.

AUSSIES TELL OF FLIGHT CHAOS

Earlier, an Aussie construction worker who is desperately needed back on the tools and can’t get a flight home from Bali for at least another six days urged airlines to put on more flights to help those stranded due to the volcanic eruption.

Adelaide’s Tyson Rust, 25, arrived in Bali on November 3 on what was supposed to be an idyllic holiday with four mates.

Tyson Rust, 25, of Adelaide is stuck in Bali due to the volcanic eruption and is unable to get a flight for six days.

However when the residential construction worker and his friends attempted to check in for their flight back to Adelaide on November 12 they found it had been cancelled.

After speaking with Indonesian airport staff, who were working on behalf of Jetstar, Mr Rust and his friends were asked to write their email addresses on a piece of paper.

Tyson Rust is so badly needed back on a worksite he is considering shelling out $1500 for a new flight home via Singapore.

Taking matters into their own hands, they called Flight Centre, who had planned their trip, and were astonished to discover the earliest they could be rebooked was on a November 19 flight to Melbourne or a November 20 flight home to Adelaide.

With residential construction recently declared a national priority and many other airlines safely leaving Denpasar Airport, Mr Rust is calling on Jetstar to put on more flights.

“We have a job which is ready for us, builders are complaining,” Mr Rust said.

“We completely understand the volcano eruption is out of their control.

“We just wanted to know why are they not sending extra planes for all the stranded passengers in Bali. Six days seemed way too long to wait for a replacement flight.”

Mr Rust said he was still yet to receive any communication from Jetstar.

He is now considering forking out $1500 to find his own way home via flights going ahead through Singapore.

INTERNATIONAL AIRLINES TRAVELLING ALTERNATE ROUTES

A number of international airlines who travel different flight paths to those used by Australian carriers have flown from Denpasar International Airport in the past couple of days.

However the strategy to fly home via third country is not foolproof with the general manager of Bali’s international airport, Ahmad Syaugi Shahab, confirming flights from Singapore, Hong Kong, Qatar, India, Australia, Malaysia, China’s Pudong and South Korea’s Incheon were all either delayed or grounded on Wednesday.

Sidney Van den Abeele is stranded with no idea when or how he will get home to Victoria.

Port Fairy pharmaceuticals professional Sidney Van den Abeele is facing the same issue as tries to get home via Virgin.

Mr Van den Abeele, 33, flew to Bali to meet his mother Anita Vereecke who had travelled from her native Belgium.

While Ms Vereecke was easily able to rebook her flight home on Qatar, Mr Van den Abeele is still waiting to hear anything back from Virgin about how he is getting home to Victoria as he faces a mounting bill for food and accommodation.

Mr Van den Abeele said an Indonesian airport employee told him airlines including Batik Air, Singapore Airlines and Emirates were all still flying due to their different flight paths which avoid the volcanic ash danger zone.

Sidney Van den Abeele is stuck in Bali but his mum Anita Vereecke was able to get home to Belgium.

“It’s really frustrating to see planes taking off and landing all day while yours was cancelled,” he said.

Mr Van den Abeele said he wanted Virgin to do more for its stranded passengers.

“Just give us information like that they are rebooking all of us, provide accommodation for all of us stranded here as this is clearly a decision not shared by all airlines flying in and out of Denpasar,” he said.

“Don’t leave us here all by ourselves without information.”

Sidney Van den Abeele is facing a mounting bill for food and accommodation.

HOW BALI VOLCANO NIGHTMARE UNFOLDED

Dozens of flights between Indonesia, Australia and parts of Asia were cancelled on Wednesday when thick plumes of smoke from the eruption at Mount Lewotobi Laki Laki, off the coast of Bali, shrouded flight paths.

The disaster began on Sunday when the volcano spewed a nine-kilometre ash cloud into the sky, killing nine locals and causing the evacuation of about 16,000 nearby villagers.

Airports descended into chaos when the dense ash cloud blew over Bali on Tuesday night, prompting Jetstar, Virgin Australia and Qantas to cancel flights in both directions.

Originally published as Bali volcano: delays continue as Qantas, Jetstar and Virgin Australia resume flights