"The airport is closed beginning at 7 a.m. Central Indonesian Standard Time (WITA)," Arie Ahsanurrohim, spokesman of state-owned airport operator PT Angkasa Pura I`s I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport, said, here, Monday.
Volcanic ash has covered the air over the airport at the second level, forcing the closure of the airport from 7 a.m. local time on Monday until 7 a.m. on Tuesday.
The Indonesian Transportation Ministry has issued a notice to airman no. A-4242/17 regarding the closure.
Based on data issued by PT Angkara Pusa I, 57 international flights and 39 domestic flights were canceled from Saturday until Sunday at 11:59 p.m. local time.
Mount Agung located in Karangasem District, on the Indonesian resort island of Bali, had again sent volcanic ash up to 1,500 meters into the sky.
"This is a phreatic eruption carrying ash material, but we are yet to analyze it," Kasbani, chief of the Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation Center (PVMBG) at the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry, said on Saturday.
The PVMBG recorded the phreatic eruption at around 05.30 p.m. local time, with the volcano spewing grey and black thick volcanic material.
He stated that the center could visually observe the bursts of the ash, which moved with medium pressure towards southwest, through three seismic stations in three villages.
Kasbani asked the people living near the mount to remain calm and not to panic following the second phreatic eruption.
The 3,142-meter-high Mount Agung has been rumbling since August 2017.
reported by Dewa Wiguna (f001)
Reporter: Antara
Editor: Heru Purwanto
Copyright © ANTARA 2017
