Airlines race to rescue passengers as explosive eruption looms on Bali

Jetstar , Qantas and Virgin Australia are planning to operate additional relief flights for customers in Bali on Friday, in a race to beat a forecast wing change and the imminent explosive eruption of Mount Agung. Jetstar and Qantas have ten scheduled flights and will put on up to an additional eight relief flights to bring 4300 people back. Relief flights will operate to Melbourne, Sydney, Perth, Adelaide and Darwin. Customers will be connected to their home cities and they will be contacted directly this evening. Virgin Australia is also continuing with relief flights. None of the airlines will take passengers to Bali tomorrow. LIVE video feed of Mount Agung 

However, the airline said that if conditions remain clear they will look to resume flights from Australian cities to Bali in the coming days. Qantas will again be operating a relief flight on a Boeing 747. Rescue flights with other airlines are set to continue Friday as airlines scramble to clear the massive backlog of passengers stranded in Bali. More tremors have occurred Thursday and time between them is decreasing while their strength is increasing according to the Indonesian seismic reports. A major escalation of the eruption is expected at any time.

And the window of opportunity to continue flights could close on Saturday or Sunday with a wind change forecast. About 150,000 travelers from around the world were re stranded on Bali when flights resumed on Wednesday afternoon. World's Best Airlines 2018 Garuda Indonesia, Indonesia AirAsia, and Batik Air have all resumed operations but passengers should check their websites for any updates. Mt Agung’s last major eruption in 1963 killed more than 1600. That eruption lasted for more than a year.