Indonesia Reopens Jakarta Airport as Volcanic Ash Disruption Eases

Indonesia’s main airport in Jakarta and several other airports reopened on Tuesday as authorities began restoring air travel after volcanic ash from Mount Anak Krakatau caused widespread disruption.

The Transport Ministry said Soekarno-Hatta International Airport and four other airports in Jakarta and Java had resumed operations. The reopening came after days of closures that left hundreds of thousands of passengers stranded and disrupted thousands of flights.

Mount Anak Krakatau, located about 150 kilometres from Jakarta in the Sunda Strait, erupted on Saturday, sending lava into the air and producing a large plume of volcanic ash.

Eight airports were forced to suspend operations over the weekend after ash was detected in their airspace. The disruption affected almost 3,000 flights and left more than 340,000 passengers stranded, according to figures released by the Transport Ministry.

Soekarno-Hatta confirmed on Tuesday that flight operations had resumed while the volcano remained active. The airport had previously extended its closure several times as authorities monitored the impact of the ash cloud.

The reopening is expected to begin a difficult recovery process for airlines, which now face the challenge of transporting passengers who have been stuck for several days while also managing cancelled and delayed services.

Among the airports that resumed operations were Halim Perdanakusuma near Jakarta and Hussein Sastranegara Airport in Bandung, the capital of West Java. Halim Perdanakusuma handles both civilian and military flights.

Another airport in southern Sumatra reopened on Monday, meaning two of the eight airports initially affected remained closed as of Tuesday.

The disruption was still causing significant problems on Monday. Soekarno-Hatta reported that more than 240 domestic and international flights had been cancelled or delayed during the morning alone, affecting nearly 30,000 passengers.

The Transport Ministry had prepared six alternative airports for aircraft that had originally been scheduled to land in Jakarta, providing airlines with options while the capital’s main airport was closed.

Anak Krakatau, whose name means “Child of Krakatau”, lies between Java and Sumatra. The volcano emerged from the sea in the early 20th century within the caldera created by the catastrophic 1883 eruption of Mount Krakatau.

The volcano remains closely watched because of its history of dangerous activity. In December 2018, a collapse of part of Anak Krakatau triggered a tsunami that killed 429 people and displaced thousands.

With several airports now operating again, airlines are expected to focus on clearing the backlog of passengers while continuing to monitor volcanic activity and ash conditions across the region.