Praya, Central Lombok (ANTARA) – State airport operator PT Angkasa Pura I (AP I) at Lombok International Airport, West Nusa Tenggara, reported flight activity unaffected by the eruption from Mount Merapi straddling Sleman to Yogyakarta and Central Java as hot clouds headed southeast.

“All flight activity is still normal,” PT AP I public relations said Thursday at Lombok International Airport, Arif Haryanto, in Praya, West Nusa Tenggara.

Haryanto later remarked that domestic flights at Lombok airport were still operating, especially flights from Jakarta, Surabaya, Bali, Makassar, Sumbawa and Bima.

Meanwhile, no international flights were scheduled so far, except for logistics flights for the MotoGP series at Mandalika Circuit, Lombok, from March 18-20, 2022.

“There are six domestic flight routes at Lombok airport. Meanwhile, there are no international routes,” he noted.

Haryanto later remarked that the number of passenger movements ahead of the Mandalika MotoGP event was still the same as the day before, averaging four thousand per day arriving and departing.

“The average number of arriving and departing passengers is still four thousand a day,” he said.

Currently, the condition of passengers at Lombok airport is relatively normal. No significant increase was recorded in early March.

Haryanto is optimistic that new central government regulations, which have started easing requirements for domestic flights at airports and ports without antigen swab or RT-PCR testing for fully vaccinated passengers, would be able to to increase the number of passengers at Lombok airport.

“For now, there is no significant increase in the number of passengers at Lombok airport,” he added.

Previously, an increase in activity had been recorded at Mount Merapi, as indicated by the emergence of hot avalanche clouds reaching up to five thousand meters. All residents of Kalitengah Lor, Glagaharjo and Cangkringan were evacuated to Glagaharjo village hall and urged to remain vigilant.