Thousands of passengers were affected when flights in and out of Bali were cancelled or diverted due to volcanic ash from Mount Bromo, an active volcano in East Java. Bali is one of the popular tourist destinations in Indonesia. It is an island resort that lies 3.2 kilometres east of Java and separated by the Bali Strait.
The volcanic ash spewed towards the southeast direction and reached about 5,500 metres high. It has been affecting some areas in the Bali region and caused disruption to air transport and chaos to travellers. Airlines flying in and out of Bali have been closely monitoring the situation. Passengers who were stranded were given accommodation. Others had their flights rescheduled.
Mount Bromo is a well-known tourist attraction in East Java. It was created together with another active volcano Mount Batok when a massive eruption occurred. It sits in the middle of Sand Sea which is a vast plain and a nature reserve that has been protected since 1919.
Early November last year, Mount Bromo had already started rumbling which alerted the authorities to issue an eruption threat warning but was lowered last month.
