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Bali flights resume following Mount Agung volcanic eruption

Flights to and from Bali have resumed after a day of delays caused by the Mount Agung volcanic eruption.

But airlines warned that services remain subject to change if conditions deteriorate again.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office said a fresh eruption last Thursday caused the closure of Bali’s Gusti Ngurah Rai airport and a number of nearby regional airports for a period of time on Friday, causing flights to be cancelled and delayed.

The Indonesian island’s international airport re-opened on Saturday afternoon local time.

All airports in Bali, Lombok island, Jember and Banyuwangi in East Java were reported to be operating normally yesterday.

But an exclusion zone within a four kilometre radius of the volcano’s crater is still being maintained.

Mount Agung is about 50 miles north-east of the Bali tourist resort of Kuta.

The FCO said: “The alert level for Mount Agung remains at level three and there is a four kilometre exclusion zone around the crater.”

Qantas advised passengers that flights to and from Bali were resuming on Saturday, although it warned this was subject to changing conditions.

Passengers with flights booked with AirAsia and Virgin Australia saw flights cancelled. AirAsia announced several Friday evening flights would be postponed until Saturday.

The Bali Government Tourism Office issued a statement saying visitors with an urgent need to continue their travel could take a bus and ferry from Bali to Surabaya – the nearest international airport.

Bali’s governor Made Mangku Pastika apologised for the inconvenience when he visited the airport.

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