Flights were suspended at Jakarta’s Soekarno-Hatta International Airport on Sunday after Mount Anak Krakatau erupted and volcanic ash spread across western Indonesia, disrupting hundreds of services and leaving passengers stranded.
The volcano, which lies in the Sunda Strait between Java and Sumatra, showed increased activity before an eruption early on Sunday. Lava flares were recorded by monitoring cameras, while ash was detected over Jakarta and nearby provinces.
Soekarno-Hatta, Indonesia’s busiest airport, extended the suspension of flight operations as the ash cloud continued to threaten aviation safety. Airport operator Angkasa Pura said 301 flights had been affected, including 58 international services.
Passengers gathered in the terminals to seek refunds, retrieve checked luggage and wait for updates as departure boards filled with cancellations. Authorities advised travellers not to go to the airport unless necessary and urged them to confirm the latest position with their airlines.
The disruption affected routes to and from Singapore, Hong Kong, Seoul, Doha, Kuala Lumpur and Amsterdam, among other destinations. Domestic flights to Lampung, Bali and Surabaya were cancelled, delayed or diverted.
Singapore Airlines cancelled services between Singapore and Jakarta, while four Qantas flights linking Sydney and Melbourne with the Indonesian capital were also cancelled. Other Qantas aircraft operating through the region faced changes to their flight paths.
Airlines warned that the disruption could continue beyond the initial airport closure because of the knock-on effect on aircraft rotations, fleet availability and subsequent departures. Garuda Indonesia also delayed a service from Sydney to Jakarta while crews waited for conditions to improve.
Volcanic ash clouds tracked across Indonesia
Indonesia’s meteorological agency, BMKG, said satellite imagery showed two distinct ash clouds over the region. One reached about 6,100 metres and moved towards Jakarta, Banten and West Java, while a second rose to approximately 15,200 metres and travelled westwards over Lampung, Bengkulu and the Indian Ocean.
BMKG said it had issued repeated aviation warnings, known as SIGMETs, as the ash shifted. The agency said the latest plume information showed ash reaching 20,000 feet while moving east and up to 50,000 feet while travelling west.
Temporary restrictions were also imposed at Jakarta’s Halim Perdanakusuma airport, Lampung’s Radin Inten II airport and Budiarto airport in Tangerang, according to official aviation notices. Air traffic authorities continued to co-ordinate with the airports, airlines and meteorological agencies as conditions changed.
“Safety remains our top priority in every operational decision,” Lukman F Laisa, Indonesia’s director general of civil aviation, said in a statement.
There were no immediate reports of casualties and no evacuation order was issued. Residents and visitors were nevertheless told to remain at least three kilometres from Anak Krakatau’s active crater.
Indonesia’s geological authorities said the volcano remained at alert level three, the second-highest level on the country’s four-point scale. They said the present structure of the island, which has been rebuilding since the deadly 2018 eruption, was still relatively small and was not considered likely to collapse on a scale capable of triggering a tsunami.
Anak Krakatau, meaning “child of Krakatau”, emerged from the remains of the volcano whose catastrophic 1883 eruption caused a tsunami and contributed to a period of global cooling. In December 2018, a collapse on Anak Krakatau’s flank triggered another tsunami that killed at least 430 people on the coasts of Java and Sumatra.
