Malaysia’s AirAsia and Singapore’s SilkAir airlines have cancelled flights to two Indonesian destinations because of volcanic ash from Mount Merapi that began erupting a week ago.
An official of budget airline AirAsia says four of its flights between Kuala Lumpur and the cities of Solo and Yogyakarta were scrapped on Tuesday. The two cities are about 19 miles (30 kilometres) from the crater.
She says the airline has not cancelled Wednesday’s flights so far. The official declined to be identified, citing company policy.
A SilkAir reservation agent in Singapore also says two flights to Solo were cancelled Tuesday. He says he has no information about Wednesday’s flight.
They are the first international airlines to suspend flights to Indonesia since Merapi erupted.
