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Volcanic eruption closes Bali airport but upcoming cruise calls unlikely to be impacted

Volcanic eruption closes Bali airport but upcoming cruise calls unlikely to be impacted
For the second time this year a volcanic eruption has disrupted flights at Bali's International Airport at Denpasar. There are currently no cruise vessels in the vicinity and cruise activity is unlikely to be impacted, according to veteran cruise and tourism professional Elly Malaihollo from Panorama Prestige Indonesia.

She noted that there are cruise ships scheduled to come to Bali later in the month.  Princess Cruises' Sun Princess is expected to call on November 19, Ponant's Le Soleal the following day and Royal Caribbean International's Radiance of the Seas on November 22.

Diamond Princess departed Bali for Australia (Geraldton) last Sunday, before the airport closure was triggered by volcanic activity at Mt. Barujani, a smaller volcano inside the caldera of Mt. Rinjani on neighbouring Lombok island.  Bali International Airport has been closed since November 3 and hundreds of domestic and international flights have been cancelled.

According to Malaihollo when the airport closed for several days in July due to volcanic ash from Java's Mt Raung,  'cruise ships twere still calling in Bali'. She expects this time round it would be the same.  By comparison, the ash from Java's Mt Raung, which closed Bali's airport  then was greater in quantity, but not as fine as the current ash cloud. Wind direction is also a key factor.

Added  a hopeful  Malaihollo , 'The airport so far is closed until November 5, 08:35am (Bali time) so there is still the possibility of clear skies soon,' added a hopeful Malaihollo. Sun Princess is due to visit Komodo Island on November 13.