Flights cancelled as Bali's Mt Agung volcano erupts

Bali's airport has cancelled flights following an eruption of the Mount Agung volcano that spread ash over the south of the Indonesian island.

The national disaster agency said Friday night's eruption lasted four minutes and 30 seconds and spread lava and incandescent rocks about 3 kilometres from the crater.

Nine villages experienced thick ash fall. But the agency said it wasn't raising the alert level for the volcano and its exclusion zone remains a 4km radius around the crater.

The Directorate General of Air Transportation said four flights to Bali were diverted and five flights out of the popular tourist destination were cancelled because of volcanic ash.

Agung became active again in 2017 after more than a half century of slumber following a major eruption in 1963.

Some travellers took to social media announcing how holidays had been disrupted because of flight cancellations.

“Lots of flights to and from Bali are disrupted because of this volcano. My Mum was due to fly Jetstar from Denpasar to Adelaide overnight but flights were cancelled,” one woman wrote to Twitter.

“Crazy volcano caused my flight to be cancelled! Better to be safe than sorry, let’s hope I’m not stuck here for two weeks,” someone else wrote to Facebook.

“The volcano has erupted in Bali, we are all perfectly safe other than a cancelled flight and slightly tedious time at the airport,” another woman shared.

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