An Australian Government Department of Foreign Affairs travel advisory bulletin issued on 18 November noted that the exclusion zone in place at that time did not include the metropolitan areas of Yogyakarta or Adisucipto International Airport. The Indonesian Government had advised that Adisucipto International Airport would be closed until at least 20 November whilst other airports in Java had been subject to periodic closure due to volcanic activity at Mount Merapi. It was further noted that there had been a deterioration in air quality in Yogyakarta from ash falling on the city. It was cautioned that volcanic ash could cause breathing difficulties, particularly for people with chronic respiratory ailments such as asthma, emphysema, or bronchitis with a further caution that volcanic activity at Mount Merapi was continuing and could lead to further disruptions to international and domestic flights to locations throughout Indonesia. Acting upon information derived from MSTAT imagery on 19 November VAAC, Darwin notified of an ash plume observed at a height of , extending to the west of the mountain. The (VAAC) Aviation Volcanic Ash Advisory warning of code red was applied in the 10:50 (UTC) advisory, elevated from a code orange issued earlier at 06:36 (UTC).