Influencer’s ‘tone deaf’ flight whinge

An influencer living in Bali has been shamed for complaining on social media that her flight to Australia had been cancelled and she needed to get back for a hen’s party on the weekend.

Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki in the Indonesia province of Nusa Tenggara erupted several times in recent weeks causing black ash and smoke to spew out of the volcano for several kilometres.

The eruptions killed at least nine people, injured dozens more and caused the evacuation of more than 11,000 people.

Smoke and black ash from the volcano caused the cancellation of several flights between Australia and Denpasar this week disrupting the plans of thousands of holiday-makers.

Influencer Lauren Bullen who lives in Bali shared a post on Instagram commenting she had a very important weekend planned in Australia and needed to return by Friday.

“Anyone have info on flight cancellations in Bali? I have a very important weekend in Australia,” Ms Bullen wrote on Instagram.

“I need to get to Australia by Friday for my bestie’s bachelorette. So I have to just wait and reassess tonight or tomorrow and than somehow wrangle a ticket because right now prices have rocketed to $2-3K a person economy.”

The post was shared on another Instagram page called Influencer Updates AU, where social media users were quick to judge Ms Bullen for her insensitive comments.

“People are literally dying in the country she lives in and she’s worried about a hens party. I’m a long time follower but I’ve had to unfollow,” one person wrote.

“I just find her extremely tone deaf,” another person commented.

“I don’t know if she wants us to feel sorry for her but this is a her problem that doesn’t really need to be shared with the world.”

Ms Bullen hit back at her critics saying she was allowed to be upset at missing her best friend’s big weekend, which they had planned for the past year.

“I am a bridesmaid and just because I am a mother, I am still allowed to attend special occasions with my closest friends,” she responded.

Qantas, Jetstar and Virgin announced they would resume flights on Thursday telling customers to check their flight status before they travelled to the airport.

A Qantas spokesperson said they were monitoring the situation for any changes in volcanic activity and were working on plans to operate recovery flights so customers could fly as soon as possible.

“We are contacting customers directly to notify them of any changes to their travel plans,” a spokesperson said.

“We appreciate the changing situation is frustrating and we thank customers for their understanding and patience.”

A Virgin spokesperson said all their scheduled flights would resume in and out of Denpasar on Thursday, and they would contact customers who had their flights cancelled to accommodate them in the coming days.

“We sincerely regret any disruption these cancellations have caused and assure our guests that our team is working diligently to rebook all impacted guests to their destinations as safely and promptly as possible,” the spokesperson said.