Twi Foreign Airlanes Parked at Juanda Airport After Mount Eruption

Surabaya, E Java (Antara) - Two airline companies' aircrafts remain parked at the Juanda International airport here because it continues to remain closed after the eruption of Mount Kelud in Kediri, East Java. "The two airplanes, which were parked at the airport, belong to China Airlines and Cathay Pacific. The two airlines serve the Surabaya - Hong Kong route and parked one plane each at the airport," Trikora Harjo, the general manager of airport operator PT Angkasa Pura I, said here on Saturday. The two foreign airplanes were forced to remain parked at the airport to carry out a number of manually conducted maintenance services due to suspicions that volcanic ash could have entered the planes' machinery. "The planes needed physical checks and replacement of air filters, compressors' cleaning, monitoring and engine run-up," Harjo saidi. In total, there were 33 airplanes parked at the airport due to its closure following the mount's eruption. Of the total, 20 airplanes were parked at Terminal I, of which four belonged to Citilink, eight to Lion Air and two belonged to Sriwijaya Air. "There is also one airplane of the Trigana Airlnines, two of Travira, one of Wings Air and two chartered aircrafts," Harjo stated. In the meantime, the number of aircrafts parked at Terminal II was 13, of which five belong to Garuda Indonesia, six to AirAsia Indonesia and two to the foreign airlines. He said that since the closure of the airport at 4.30 am on Friday, a total of 41 flights (domestic and international) from and to Juanda airport had been cancelled. "The closure of the airport, according to the plan, will last until today at 6 pm. But a decision to open the airport will still need to take into account the weather conditions," he said. Head of Data and Information Center of National Disaster Mitigation Agency Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said seven airports and one airstrip remained closed on Saturday, as of 10 am local time (GMT +7), due to volcanic ash from Mount Kelud in East Java. He said the seven closed airports were Juanda (Surabaya), Adi Sumarmo (Solo), Adi Sucipto (Yogyakarta) Abdulrahman Saleh (Malang), Ahmad Yani (Semarang), Husein Sastranegara (Bandung) and Tunggul Wulung airstrip in Cilacap. "The runway at Iswahyudi Airport of Madiun is also closed," Nugroho said. The airports are still being cleaned following the downpour of volcanic ash. Nugroho said the Volcanic Ash Advisory Center, based in Washington, USA, reported that volcanic ash from Mount Kelud has blown clear of Java and Sumatra air space and reached the Indian Ocean towards the west of Sumatra Island. "The VAAC has recommended all airplanes not to travel through that area," Nugroho said. Meanwhile, at 6 am Saturday morning, Mount Kelud spewed a plume of white smoke, rising to a height of 3,000 meters. "Volcanic ash and sand are blanketing all the houses and roads in Kediri," Nugroho said. Eight flights from the Batam airport to four destinations in Java were cancelled on Saturday because the destination airports have not yet resumed operations after Mount Kelud erupted on Thursday night. "Yesterday, seven flights were cancelled. Today, eight flights to Yogyakarta, Semarang, Surabaya and Bandung were cancelled," said Suwarso, the general affairs department of Batam Hang Nadim International airports, here on Saturday.(*)