Indonesia has reopened five airports after Indonesia airport closures caused by volcanic ash from the Anak Krakatau eruption disrupted air travel for two days and stranded hundreds of thousands of passengers.
The airports resumed operations shortly after midnight on Tuesday after Anak Krakatau, located in the Sunda Strait between Java and Sumatra, remained highly active following a series of eruptions over the weekend.
Jakarta’s Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, the first major airport to suspend flights on Sunday morning, resumed operations at 00:30 local time on Tuesday. Across the affected airports, nearly 3,000 flights were disrupted and more than 340,000 passengers were left stranded.
Indonesia airport closures disrupt thousands of flights
The disruption created long queues at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport on Monday, with passengers seeking refunds and trying to establish when their flights would resume.
Finna, a 46-year-old passenger travelling from Malang in East Java to Jakarta, said the airport became extremely crowded as cancelled and delayed passengers gathered in the departure halls.
“It was very crowded because passengers from the morning flights had piled up, while those scheduled for later departures still didn’t know what would happen,” she told BBC Indonesian.
She eventually abandoned her flight and travelled overnight by two intercity trains, reaching Jakarta at about 03:00 on Monday.
Other travellers were also forced to change their plans. Jo Shaw, who was visiting Indonesia with members of conservation charity Save the Rhino International, said her group cancelled plans to camp at Ujung Kulon National Park after authorities increased the volcano’s alert level.
Volcanic ash reaches high altitudes Indonesia airport closures
Indonesia’s Geological Agency warned on Monday that the likelihood of additional eruptions remained high.
The country’s meteorological agency, BMKG, reported that volcanic ash reached about 6,000 metres on the Java side of the volcano and up to 15,000 metres over parts of Sumatra and Banten, Java’s westernmost province.
The most recent eruption reported in the source occurred at 20:23 on Sunday.
Transport Minister Dudy Purwagandhi said authorities could not predict exactly when the disruption would end because weather conditions were constantly changing. Airport authorities were conducting tests every 30 minutes to monitor whether volcanic ash was spreading or beginning to clear.
Travellers face extended disruption Indonesia airport closures
Among those affected were a newly married Malaysian couple who had spent a week in Bali. The couple said they were informed that their next available flight to Kuala Lumpur would not depart until 11 September.
“We thought we would just sleep at the airport for a few hours and then take the morning flight home,” 29-year-old Amir Hamzah told Malaysia’s Bernama news agency. “We never thought we would end up being stuck here for days.”
Authorities have also imposed safety restrictions around Anak Krakatau. People have been prohibited from approaching or carrying out activities within 3km of the active crater, while vessels have been barred from entering a 3km exclusion zone around the volcano.
Officials confirmed that the latest volcanic activity had not prompted a tsunami warning.
Anak Krakatau’s dangerous history Indonesia airport closures
Anak Krakatau, meaning “Child of Krakatoa”, emerged from the sea in the early 20th century inside the caldera created by the catastrophic 1883 eruption of Mount Krakatoa.
The volcano collapsed in December 2018, triggering a tsunami that killed more than 400 people and injured and displaced thousands along the coastlines of Java and Sumatra.
Anak Krakatau’s latest activity highlights the continuing volcanic risks faced by Indonesia, which lies along the Pacific Ring of Fire. The region stretches for roughly 40,000km and contains many of the world’s active volcanoes and earthquake zones.
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