Bali airport reopened Thursday afternoon after volcanic ash cleared from the sky after recent eruptions of Mount Barujari in Lombok, Indonesia, according to The Jakarta Post.
Trikora Harjo, general manager of Bali's Ngurah Rai International Airport's operator PT Angkasa Pura I, said that the airport was reopened at 2:30 p.m. local time after consultation with the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) and from the Volcanic Ash Advisory Center (VAAC) in Darwin, Australia.
"They informed us that the wind was now taking volcanic ash [...] to the south, away from Bali," said Harjo.
He said that the situation would be reevaluated every two hours. "We're still preparing, in particular, cleaning the runway of ash," he said, according to Sky News Australia.
"The planes are also being cleaned now by the airlines," Harjo added. "I expect that within two hours, they can fly again."
The Bali airport closure on Tuesday left more than 6,000 domestic and international passengers stranded. Authorities had initially decided to reopen the airport on Friday due to the intensified activity at Mt. Barujari, which is located inside the caldera of Mount Rinjani.
Stranded passengers welcomed the announcement of the airport reopening on Thursday. "Finally, after waiting all day, we can go home," said Hugh Millard, a Malaysia Airlines passenger flying home to London.
