Bali flights: Jetstar, Qantas and Virgin resume flights to Denpasar Airport after volcanic eruptions

The three major airlines have greenlit planes to fly between Bali and Australia after volcanic ash clouds left travellers stranded this week.

Several airlines grounded flights to and from Bali’s Denpasar Airport after eruptions from Indonesia’s Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki caused ash clouds this week.

But Qantas Group — which includes Jetstar — confirmed they were bringing back flights to the holiday paradise, with a spokesperson confirming conditions had eased.

Virgin Australia also confirmed it had resumed “all scheduled flights” to and from Denpasar on Thursday.

“Our teams have been working through the night to closely monitor the evolving situation and assess when it’s safe to fly,” a Qantas Group spokesperson 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.”

Qantas said the situation was still evolving and urged travellers to check the status of their flights before attending an airport.

“We are contacting customers directly to notify them of any changes to their travel plans,” the spokesperson said.

“We appreciate the changing situation is frustrating and we thank customers for their understanding and patience.”

A Virgin spokesperson said the airline would also contact impacted guests who have had flights cancelled, before they are placed “on recovery flights in the coming days”.

At least six Jetstar flights and three Qantas flights will leave Australia for Denpasar on Thursday.

But both the morning AirAsia and Citilink flights to Denpasar from Perth appeared to have been cancelled on Thursday.

Emeritus Professor Chris Elders from Curtin University’s School of Earth and Planetary Sciences warned the flight disruptions could last a while.

“Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki has been erupting since December 2023, but a cycle of particularly violent eruptions started in early November,” he said.

“The fact this volcano is about 800km east of Bali on a completely different island (Flores) gives an idea of the force of the eruption.

“It is always very difficult to predict how long eruptive cycles such as this will continue and if they will continue with the same level of intensity.

“However, we know volcanoes throughout Indonesia are prone to similar explosive styles of eruption and impacts on air travel will always be a risk — in addition to the potentially more catastrophic effects on those who live nearby.”

The volcanic eruptions have killed nine people and forced thousands of locals to evacuate.

Travellers are urged to check with their airline for the most up-to-date information about their flights