Volcanic Eruption Near Bali Airport, Air India Flight Returns To Delhi (Representative Image)

An Air India flight from Delhi to Bali diverted and returned to the national capital on Wednesday due to a volcanic eruption near Bali airport.

Several flights to and from Bali were cancelled on Wednesday due to the volcanic disruption. Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki, a volcano in Indonesia’s East Nusa Tenggara province, erupted on Tuesday evening, sending an ash cloud 10 kilometres into the air. High-level of alert was issued.

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“Air India flight AI2145 on 18 June 2025 from Delhi to Bali was advised to air return to Delhi due to reports of volcanic eruption near destination airport Bali, in the interest of safety,” an Air India official said.

“Inconvenience caused to passengers is sincerely regretted and every effort has been made to minimise it by providing hotel accommodation to the affected passengers. Full refunds on cancellation or complimentary rescheduling has also been offered to them if opted,” the airline spokesperson added.

On Tuesday, 16 Air India flights were cancelled due to unavailability of aircraft and technical glitches, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said in a press statement. Since the Ahmedabad plane crash, a total of more than 80 flights have been cancelled by Air India.

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The aviation watchdog on Tuesday carried out a high-level meeting with Air India and Air India Express officials to review the carriers’ international flights, which continued to experience delays and cancellations due to a combination of factors, including technical glitches.

The DGCA has advised the Indian airline to ‘mitigate passenger delays’ resulting from maintenance-related issues reported by the carrier. “The airline was advised to strengthen internal coordination across engineering, operations, ground handling units and ensure availability of adequate spares,” the aviation regulator added.