Volcanic eruption in Indonesia forces airlines to cancel flights to Bali, stranding frustrated passengers

Frustrated passengers have spoken out amid airport chaos on Wednesday, with flights to Bali cancelled due to an erupting volcano in Indonesia.

Mount Lewotobi Laki-laki on the island of Flores in the East Nusa Tenggara province has erupted several times in recent days, beginning with a major eruption just over a week ago that killed nine people and spewed ash kilometres into the air.

WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Volcano forces Bali flight cancellations.

Jetstar, Qantas, Virgin Australia and AirAsia flights from Australia to the popular holiday destination have all been impacted due to a volcanic ash cloud almost 6000km into the air.

On Wednesday morning, Jetstar confirmed all flights had been cancelled until at least 2pm.

It said all impacted customers had been notified and provided with a range of options.

Sunrise reporter Andrew McCormack was at Melbourne airport on Wednesday morning, where passengers described their frustration.

“(I’m a) little bit upset because I have minimised my sleep to sleep on the plane. I’m running on empty — I want to start my holiday,” one upset passenger told McCormack.

McCormack also told Sunrise of the experience of another passenger who was on a flight to return to Australia from Denpasar but was forced to wait three hours on the tarmac before the flight was cancelled.

Virgin Australia released a statement saying it was cancelling all flights on Wednesday, in both directions: “The safety of our guests and crew is our highest priority. Adverse weather due to the volcano in Indonesia has resulted in Virgin Australia cancelling all flights in and out of Denpasar today (13 November).

“We regret the inconvenience this has caused our passengers, and our team is working hard to ensure all passengers booked on our services get to their destination safely and as soon as possible.”

Passenger Hugo Herron, who was heading off for a surfing trip, also appeared on the show, revealing he had two flights cancelled.

“We got halfway across Aussie and had to turn around midway, the captain said over the loudspeaker there had been a volcanic eruption,” Herron, who was meant to be on a surf trip, said.

“We got home last night around midnight and had to be back at 4am — as soon as we got here, they said you have to wait until later this afternoon around 3.30pm, they don’t still know if they’re flying out.”

Herron said Qantas had provided him with an Uber voucher and food vouchers.

As of Wednesday morning, Garuda Airlines was flying to the island destination but flights were priced at $1200 to $1500.

“Right now, (everyone is) in a state of confusion as to what passengers will be able to do with this indefinite delay of both Virgin and Jetstar flights in and out of Denpasar,” McCormack said.

On Wednesday morning, Jetstar said via its website: “At this stage, we still intend to operate at least two additional return services between Australia and Bali on Wednesday afternoon, including a special flight using our larger 787 aircraft, to get passengers to their destinations as soon as possible.

“Safety is always our number one priority and we thank customers for their patience and understanding.”

Jetstar is encouraging passengers to check its website for the status of their flight, before leaving for the airport.

Qantas and Virgin Australia are yet to make public statements concerning their cancelled flights.

On Tuesday, Virgin Australia cancelled four flights — two into Denpasar, and two out — due to “adverse weather”.

Travellers can monitor their flight status on their airline’s website.