Volcanic ashes from the eruption of Mount Ruang in North Sulawesi had prompted the authority to close Manado’s Sam Ratulangi International Airport from April 18 to mid-day April 22, leading to flights and at least one event being cancelled.
At press time, the airport has resumed normal operations as of yesterday.
Since the eruption, passengers (mainly domestic) stranded in Manado have been looking for alternative routes via Gorontalu, Palu City and Ternate, shared Reenaldo Wangkar, managing director of Welcome Manado Wisata.
However, this incurred extra costs for passengers as they had to buy a new ticket.
Some international passengers were also left stranded as Scoot flights between Friday and Monday were cancelled.
Reenaldo noted that with the airport closure status updated only every 24 hours, this proved challenging for passengers as they had to “reschedule at each airline’s office everyday”.
Jouvendi Rompis, chairman of the Indonesian Travel Agents Association (ASTINDO) North Sulawesi Chapter, said: “Some tourists have been having problems returning home because of the closure – moreover many international divers, who were scheduled to dive in North Sulawesi, were stuck in Jakarta and Singapore.”
Reenaldo added that his tour groups for April 26 and 27 have already considered cancelling their trips, thus he has had to offer to reschedule their bookings, and is also prepared to refund the groups if rescheduling was not possible. The two groups are from Singapore (32 pax), and a Catholic pilgrimage group from Jakarta (10 pax).
“There was an important United Cities and Local Governments Asia-Pacific (UCLG ASPAC) event in North Minahasa which (has been) postponed until June. (As a result) some of our transport rental orders for the event were cancelled,” he continued.
On a more positive note, Reynold Mawikere, owner of Manado Golden Travel and secretary of ASTINDO North Sulawesi Chapter, shared that reports from his members showed that this month was incidentally a slow one, stating that “there are many open trips for next month” which are fully-booked.
He added that with Mount Ruang located about five-hours’ boat ride away from Manado, the eruption has not had a significant impact on the tourist attractions around Manado.
For guests who are already in Manado, Reynold commented they can still “continue to visit existing tourist attractions unless the specifications for photography are affected due to visibility”.
