Around 170,000 passengers have been left stranded after Indonesian authorities suspended operations at eight airports following the eruption of Mount Anak Krakatau, which sent volcanic ash into the airspace over several parts of the country.
Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Jakarta, Indonesia’s busiest aviation hub, was the first to shut down after volcanic ash was detected in the airspace near the airport on Sunday.
The closure was later expanded to seven more airports as a precaution for aviation safety.
Indonesia’s Transport Ministry said 1,558 flights were delayed or cancelled, with more than 900 involving flights to and from Soekarno-Hatta.
The latest developments showed that the airport closures were extended until Monday morning after changing wind directions caused volcanic ash to continue affecting airspace over western Indonesia.
Transport Minister Dudy Purwagandhi said the decision to close more airports was made after tests found that ash from the eruption had spread to West Java.
He also instructed airlines to speed up ticket refund processes and provide passengers with the latest information to prevent congestion at terminals.
The Anak Krakatau eruption began late Friday night, triggering continued seismic activity, lava bursts and booming sounds that could be heard hundreds of kilometres from the volcano. Two more eruptions were recorded on Sunday.
According to Indonesia’s Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG), volcanic ash reached about 6,000 metres east of the volcano and up to 15,000 metres westwards towards Sumatra.
The flight disruption has affected major international routes, including those to Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Doha, Sydney, Seoul, Hong Kong and Amsterdam.
Several airlines, including Singapore Airlines, Scoot, Malaysia Airlines and AirAsia, cancelled flights to and from Jakarta.
The disruption has also affected daily life, with several schools in Jakarta and surrounding areas switching to online learning, while fishermen in some coastal areas suspended operations due to ashfall.
Local media reports said many residents suffered eye irritation following heavy ashfall.
Indonesia’s Health Ministry urged people to remain indoors and wear face masks to reduce the risk of respiratory, eye and skin problems.
Indonesia’s disaster mitigation agency (BNPB), however, said there was no tsunami threat detected so far, despite Anak Krakatau’s location in the Sunda Strait between Java and Sumatra.
Authorities are also planning cloud-seeding operations to help accelerate the settling of volcanic ash.
Anak Krakatau, meaning “Child of Krakatoa”, emerged from the caldera formed after the catastrophic eruption of Mount Krakatoa in 1883.
The volcano partially collapsed in 2018, triggering a tsunami that killed more than 400 people and injured thousands along the coastlines of Java and Sumatra.
