Bali’s busy Ngurah Rai International Airport was forced to shut down operations for 90 minutes Monday morning, June 19, with severe wet weather proving a safety concern with dozens of flights impacted.
Bali has braced for an increase in tourism during the busy Ramadan holiday period.
Weather disrupted at least 20 flights into the airport, with 13 delayed to depart and seven unable to land. A dozen planes were also forced to circle the airspace.
“Around 12 flights were holding above (rerouting) during the bad weather. Seven international flights and 13 domestic flights could not take off and land,” Head Public Representative from Angkasa Pura I Ngurah Rai International Airport Arie Hasanurrohim said.
Hasanurrohim said normal visibility for pilots to navigate clearly is 800 metres, but due to heavy rain Monday morning visibility had been reduced to just 100 metres.
“AirNav Indonesia released a Notice to Airman to all flight actors in the world with the identification number A-2078/17. The notice informed that visibility was below minimum due to rain,” he said.
The notice was released 7.54 am local time and lasted until 9.30 am, warning of disruptions for all flights during that time range. At 8.50 am, the Indonesian Agency for Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics said the weather had improved enough to resume operations.
Several flights during that time were rerouted to at Juanda International Airport in Surabaya, the nearest available airport.
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Image credit: Lombokita