Around 170,000 passengers were left stranded on Sunday as Indonesia closed its main international airport and seven others, cancelling hundreds of flights after Mount Anak Krakatau spewed a plume of volcanic ash and lava from more than 150km away. The suspension at Soekarno-Hatta international airport in Jakarta and other facilities has disrupted travel for hundreds of thousands, with more than 1,500 flights delayed.
Airport closures and flight disruptions
The airport authority extended the suspension until 8:59am Monday local time “due to increased eruptive activity at Mount Anak Krakatau”, according to an Instagram post. Operations were halted after volcanic ash was detected in the airspace surrounding Soekarno-Hatta, the ministry said. Seven other airports also suspended operations, including Husein Sastranegara airport in Bandung and Radin Inten II airport near Bandar Lampung on Sumatra.
“To date, 1,558 flights have been delayed at the eight affected airports, with 170,000 passengers stranded,” the ministry said in a statement on Sunday. More than 900 of the affected flights were to and from Soekarno-Hatta, it added. Transportation minister Dudy Purwagandhi said several airports in cities including Semarang and Surabaya have been prepared as alternatives for landing.
Volcanic activity and wider impact
Anak Krakatau erupted on Saturday, producing a fountain of lava and booming sounds that could be heard up to a few hundred kilometres away, the geology agency said. Two new eruptions were recorded on Sunday, according to the country’s volcanology agency. The volcano sits in a strait separating the islands of Java and Sumatra, and ships passing through were asked to increase vigilance for possible disruption to navigation safety. Vessels are prohibited from approaching an exclusion zone of a 3km radius from the volcano, local port authorities said.
Schools across Jakarta were also affected, with classes moving online on Monday, the city said in a statement, without specifying how long the measure would be in place. Some shipping has also been disrupted. Volcanic ash reached the city of Bandar Lampung on the southern tip of Sumatra, blanketing parked cars and roadsides.
Passenger reactions and safety warnings
The disruption left some passengers scrambling to find alternative flights. Henny Yensan, 44, who had hoped to go back to her home town with her mother, said “everybody was disappointed”. “No one flew into a rage because, after all, this is due to natural disaster,” the businesswoman, who had to reschedule her flight to Tuesday, told AFP.
Geology agency head Lana Saria warned against approaching Anak Krakatau, saying materials ejected from the volcano could endanger those within the exclusion zone. She said the most recent series of eruptions do not have the potential to trigger a tsunami. A 2018 tsunami triggered by a collapse of parts of Anak Krakatau killed 429 people and left thousands displaced. Indonesia, a South-east Asian archipelago nation, sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire, where the meeting of continental plates causes high volcanic and seismic activity.
