AirAsia Philippines yesterday canceled its flights to and from Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia, following the eruption of Mount Ruang at Sulawesi Island, Indonesia.

The eruption has resulted in extensive volcanic ash clouds affecting the airspace and visibility in the region.

The airline immediately notified the affected passengers via short messaging system and email, AirAsia Philippines communications head Steve Dailisan said.

“While the cancellations may cause inconvenience to the travel plans of our guests, AirAsia will never compromise the safe conduct of the flight,” the company said.

Affected passengers may avail of a one-time change to any new travel date within 30 days from the original departure data on the same route without additional cost and subject to seat availability.

Another option, AirAsia said, would be to retain the value of the flight booking in the affected customer’s rewards member account for future travel with the same airline to be redeemed within 730 calendar days from the issuance date.

The travel date of the new booking can fall on any date within the published flight schedule on airasia.com.