Several international airlines have canceled flights to and from the tourist island of Bali as an ongoing volcanic eruption has stranded travelers at airports.

Tourists said yesterday they had been stranded at Bali airport since Tuesday after their flights were suddenly canceled.

“The airline failed to provide accommodation, leaving us stranded at this airport,” said Charlie Austin from Perth, Australia, who was vacationing in Bali with his family.

Another Australian tourist, Issabella Butler, opted to find another airline that could get her home.

“The important thing is that we can get out of here,” she said.

Media reported that thousands of people were stranded at airports in Indonesia and Australia, but no exact figures were given.

Indonesia’s Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki volcano on the remote island of Flores in East Nusa Tenggara province has spewed towering columns of hot ash into the air since its first huge eruption on November 4, killing nine people and injuring dozens more.

The 1,584 m volcano threw ash at least 17 times on Tuesday, with the largest recorded column reaching 9 km high, the Center for Volcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation said.

Authorities on Tuesday widened the danger zone as the volcano erupted again to 9 km away, as volcanic material including smoldering rocks, lava and hot fragments of gravel and ash the size of ‘an inch, were projected up to 8 km from the crater last Friday.

Volcano activity has disrupted flights at Bali’s I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport since the eruption began, airport general manager Ahmad Syaugi Shahab said.

Over the last three days, 46 flights, including 30 departing and 16 arriving, were affected.

Shahab said at least 12 domestic and 22 foreign flights were canceled on Tuesday alone.

For these cancellations, airlines offered travelers a refund, reschedule or rerouting, he said.

Three Australian airlines have also canceled or delayed a number of flights.

Jetstar has suspended flights to Bali until at least today, it said on its website, saying it was “currently not safe” to operate the route.

Virgin Australia’s website showed 10 services to and from Bali were canceled yesterday.

Qantas said it had delayed three flights.

Some airlines are offering fare refunds for upcoming Bali flights to passengers who do not wish to travel.

Air New Zealand has canceled a flight to Denpasar scheduled for yesterday and a return service to Auckland which was due to leave Bali today. Passengers would be changed and the airline would continue to monitor the movement of the ash in the coming days, Chief Operating Officer Alex Marren said.

Korean Air said two of its flights to Bali were forced to turn back due to volcanic ash caused by the eruption.

The airline said yesterday that the two flights – carrying around 400 passengers together – which departed from South Korea’s Incheon International Airport on Tuesday turned back to their departure point hours later, following predictions that Bali’s Ngurah Rai Airport could be affected by volcanic ash. . The two planes arrived in Incheon early yesterday.

Three other airports in the neighboring districts of Ende, Larantuka and Bajawa have been closed since Monday after Indonesian Air Navigation issued a safety warning due to volcanic ash. -AP