Bali’s Ngurah Rai Airport in Denpasar has re-opened and some airlines have begun passenger check-in.

Jetstar will reportedly resume flights in and out of Bali from Monday afternoon, the first of the airlines to do so.

The airport reopened on Saturday night before grounding flights on Sunday

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Plumes of volcanic ash billowing from Mount Raung in East Java have been blowing in the direction of the holiday island, making it unsafe for planes to take off and land.

Australians stranded in Bali say airlines had not been providing enough flight information, with some travellers getting more instructions from other passengers and online facilities.

The eruption of Mount Raung has left thousands of people, including many Australians, stranded in Bali and others unable to leave Australia for the holiday island.

Lizzy Polak, who has been stranded in Bali since Wednesday, told the ABC her airline had not been of help.

“[Jetstar] haven’t given us any information to alert us, [we get information] only if we physically go [online] ourselves and check,” she said.

“We only found out our flight was cancelled from another Australian lady at our motel.”

Ms Polak said she was forced to pay for all expenses herself, as her travel insurance was not covering anything.

“We are paying for our own accommodation until Monday, and will see if we have to extend [our stay] then,” she said.

“Jetstar or our travel insurance are not paying for any expenses. They aren’t giving us any information.

“We went to the airport to talk to the Jetstar staff and there was no staff and no-one to talk to, they just gave us a hotline to call that only worked in Australia.

“I feel that Jetstar is definitely not supplying enough information for us or support at all.”

Sunshine Coast man Tony earlier on Sunday told 612 ABC Brisbane he was also “getting more information from the website” than from his airline.

“We’ve been up all night trying to get flights and there’s still nothing flying. No information, you don’t know what’s going on,” he said.

“I’ve missed an event this weekend. I had to put a crew together, I made 130 phone calls in one day.

“We’re stuck in a motel, we’ve got limited access to the internet and we need to get home.

“So anybody who’s got any ideas on how to do it, it would be great to know.”

Returning passengers relieved to be home

Passenger John Kessey flew to Perth from Bali on Sunday morning on an AirAsia flight, and said he was relieved to be home.

“It’s busy … no one knows anything,” he said.

“That’s the hardest thing, trying to get information, not knowing who to call — you can’t call anyone, you can’t talk to anyone because no-one really knows.”

Rhys Powell arrived in Australia on the same flight, and said the situation at Denpasar airport was hectic.

“It was chaotic – it takes a while to try to get to the desk because there’s people that’ve been there days trying to get a flight, and they’ve got to reschedule people as well,” he said.

Other people who are trying to fly to Bali have been stuck in Australia due to the ash.

One woman said she felt frustrated, but said: “I have to just think there’s a reason we’re not going.”

“We’ve got a family, we don’t want to put ourselves at risk,” she said.

‘Lucky ones’ have returned home

Mt Raung, located 150 kilometres from Denpasar Airport, is continuing to erupt, and winds are blowing in an unfavourable direction and are forecast to do so for the rest of the day, Virgin said.

The latest advice from Virgin’s meteorologists and the Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre (VAAC) is that conditions are no longer suitable for operations in and out of Denpasar Airport.

Hundreds of flights have been affected by the eruption, and some travellers have been told it could take until the end of the month for them to get a flight home.

Swan Hill resident Carla Green was due to leave Bali two days ago but is now scheduled to fly home on Thursday.

“Lucky we had been able to rebook the same accommodation we’re in but that’s only until Monday so we’ll have to look elsewhere for those last few nights,” she said.

“Obviously it’s not ideal but we sort of feel lucky that we’re here and not stranded in Australia wishing we were on our holiday.”

Earlier on Sunday morning, the general manager of Angkasa Pura, which operates Bali’s airport, had said all 36 international carriers and 18 domestic airlines had started flying to and from the airport again.

Angkasa Pura head Trikora Hardjo met airline executives on Saturday to discuss the huge backlog of flights, which could take weeks to clear.

Some lucky passengers returned home as both Virgin and Jetstar temporarily resumed flights in and out of Bali overnight.

Both airlines organised additional services to return stranded holidaymakers, however they must still adhere to the latest advice from VAAC provided this morning.

According to VAAC, volcanic ash is abrasive and can cause engine failure for planes.

-ABC