Several Indonesian airports remain shut due to volcanic ash from Anak Krakatau

By Reuters and published by CNA

JAKARTA: Seven Indonesian airports, including two serving Jakarta, remained closed on Monday (Sep. 7) afternoon because of volcanic ash from eruptions of Mount Anak Krakatau, the transport minister said.

Ash from Anak Krakatau, which sits halfway between Java and Sumatra islands, has blanketed Jakarta and several surrounding areas since it erupted late on Friday, leading to the closure of the airports for safety reasons.

“We cannot ascertain when this will end due to the dynamic weather,” Transport Minister Dudy Purwagandhi said in a statement on Monday, adding that the eight airports, which included the ones serving Jakarta’s nearby provinces of Lampung and West Java, would remain closed until at least 8.59 a.m. (same time in Thailand).

Atung Bungsu Airport in Pagar Alam, South Sumatra, which was temporarily closed, resumed normal operations as of 9 a.m. on Monday. The other seven remained closed.

Jakarta’s Soekarno-Hatta airport subsequently posted on Instagram that flight operations would remain suspended until 6 p.m. local time.

The transport ministry said that 170,000 people have been affected by flight cancellations.

The volcano monitoring agency’s website showed the most recent Anak Krakatau eruption occurred on Sunday at 8.23 p.m.

Passengers stuck at Soekarno-Hatta Airport

Ash reached as high as 6,000m on the Java side of the volcano and 15,000m on the Sumatra side and in some parts of Banten province in Java, the meteorological agency BMKG posted on its website.

Ersy Laksita Rini, 55, was upset when she arrived at Soekarno-Hatta International and learned that her 8 a.m. flight to Surabaya had been cancelled. She said the airline had not informed her ahead of time.

“If the eruption happened last night and there were predictions of flight cancellations, we should have been notified from the start,” she told Reuters. “That way, passengers wouldn’t have needed to come here so early and could have looked for alternatives instead.”

French national Eloan Tasset, 21, got a text from Batik Air that his flight to his holiday destination of Manado in North Sulawesi had been delayed, but he said it was unclear how long the delay would be.

“If they tell me my flight is cancelled, I think I’m going to try to find a hotel in Jakarta,” he said.

The airport operator said it was providing food and light refreshments for affected passengers and buses to hotels, in coordination with the airlines.

CAPTIONS:

Top: A drone view shows Mount Anak Krakatau volcano spewing hot ash during an eruption, in South Lampung, Lampung province, Indonesia, on September 5, 2026. Photo – Centre for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation (PVMBG)/Handout via Reuters ad published by CNA

Insert: Stranded passengers at terminal as Soekarno Hatta International Airport closed its operations due to the eruption of the Mount Anak Krakatau volcano, in Tangerang, near Jakarta, Indonesia, September 6, 2026. Photo – Reuters/Ajeng Dinar Ulfiana and published by CNA

Front Page: Mount Anak Krakatau volcano spews hot lava as seen from Pasauran village in Serang, Banten province, Indonesia, on September 5, 2026. Photo: Reuters/Rikardo and published by CNA

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