Disappointed holidaymakers Diane Robinson, Veronica Frampton and Adam Frampton in Auckland. Mrs Frampton had planned to visit her great, great grandmother in Indonesia. Photo / Chris Loufte
Disappointed holidaymakers Diane Robinson, Veronica Frampton and Adam Frampton in Auckland. Mrs Frampton had planned to visit her great, great grandmother in Indonesia. Photo / Chris Loufte
Travellers set off after a 12-hour delay to Bali only to return 10 hours later because Denpasar closes again.
Bali-bound travellers had their hopes of relaxing tropical holidays and family reunions dashed mid-flight as volcanic ash forced their plane to return to Auckland.
A reprieve in the volcanic ash spilling from Mt Raung, in East Java, lead Air New Zealand to make the call and allow flight NZ245 to take off at about 3.20am - almost 12 hours after its scheduled departure time.
The flight, with more than 200 passengers, was almost halfway across Australia when the call was made for it to turn back.
The Riddick family (from left) Blair, Jordan, Melissa and Sophie, had their holiday plans thwarted thanks to the ash spewing from Mt Raung.
Families onboard had their holiday plans disrupted, including one Indonesia woman, Veronica Frampton, who had hoped to spend some time with her great, great, grandmother living in Malang, East Java.
"She's a hundred [and] something, so I just wanted to visit her to make her happy, "
Instead Mrs Frampton and her husband Adam were headed back to Foxton this morning - though they hope to head back to Indonesia next month.
Another family on board were also disappointed their holiday plans had been foiled.
Sophie and Jordan Riddick were travelling to Bali for a week-long family holiday with their parents.
While they looked relatively happy despite their 10-hour round-trip in the air, their mother Melissa was frantically searching on her phone for a way to salvage their holiday.
Disappointed holidaymakers Diane Robinson, Veronica Frampton and Adam Frampton in Auckland. Mrs Frampton had planned to visit her great, great grandmother in Indonesia. Photo / Chris Loufte
"Everything is through the roof, I'm just searching to go anywhere and it's just ... five grand to go to Fiji for the airfares alone," she said.
"This holiday has been in the pipeline for a year," said their father Blair. "We've spent the past few hours flying in circles.
"Obviously with the kids, we want to go somewhere."
Another traveller, Adam Clamp, was also missing out on his chance of a family holiday.
"Fortunately half of the family are there already ... they'll be loving it," he said.
While Mr Clamp admitted to being "pretty disappointed" at missing out on the fun he understood why the flight returned to Auckland.
His sentiments were shared by married couple John and Anne Bragg, who had intended to be in Bali till next Sunday. Mr Bragg was feeling a little "p****d off", but said it was just "one of those things".
He had first noticed the plane turning back, over Alice Springs, on his inflight screen.
"I had the flight radar up on the screen and I noticed three-quarters of an hour before the pilot said anything that we were starting to head east again," Mr Bragg said.
Another Air New Zealand flight from Bali to Auckland scheduled to leave yesterday was also cancelled.
A replacement flight was planned for Tuesday - though many travellers the Herald spoke to were making alternate travel plans.
Insurance Council New Zealand's Communications manager Sarah Knox said travel insurance cover in this situation was dependent on each provider.
Australia's Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre said winds were expected to blow the ash cloud away from the Denpasar airport last night or tonight.
An Air New Zealand spokeswoman said a forecast change in wind direction mean the ash was expected to affect operations at the Densapar airport when flight NZ245 was expected to land.
Bali-bound travellers had their hopes of relaxing tropical holidays and family reunions dashed mid-flight as volcanic ash forced their plane to return to Auckland.
Failed flights
• Thursday, July 9: Denpasar airport closed due to drifting ash. • Saturday, July 11: Denpasar airport reopened. • Sunday, July 12: Flight NZ245 takes off for Bali at 3.20am, almost 12 hours late. Flight NZ245 arrives back in Auckland at 1.26pm.
