ع
The Transportation Ministry reported that more than 270,000 passengers have been affected by the delay diversion or cancellation of 2,300 flights as seven airports remained shuttered on September 7 due to volcanic ash spreading from Mount Anak Krakatau. Jakarta’s Soekarno-Hatta International Airport along with facilities in Bandung Lampung and other locations saw operations suspended since Sunday after the volcano began erupting late Friday and continued activity through the weekend. Queues stretched across departure halls as travelers pressed for refunds and updated departure information while airlines scrambled to manage the fallout from the extended shutdowns.
Indonesia’s volcanology agency recorded the latest eruption at 20:23 on Sunday with ash plumes reaching heights of up to 50,000 feet in areas near Sumatra according to a Reuters assessment of meteorological data. The ash cloud drifted more than 150 kilometers to blanket parts of Jakarta and surrounding provinces prompting the airspace closures for safety reasons. This marks a significant event for Anak Krakatau which produced a deadly tsunami in 2018 that claimed more than 400 lives as documented in official tallies from the disaster.
Transport Minister Dudy Purwagandhi said several airports in Semarang and Surabaya had been prepared as alternative landing sites while calling on carriers to accelerate refund processes and keep passengers informed to avoid further terminal overcrowding. “We cannot ascertain when this will end due to the dynamic weather” Purwagandhi stated in comments on the temporary airport measures. The ministry coordinated with aviation authorities to monitor ash movement and adjust restrictions as conditions evolved across the affected regions.
The Indonesia National Air Carrier Association estimated that daily losses for airlines could reach 19 billion rupiah from cancelled flights extra fuel costs for diversions aircraft parking fees and passenger compensation with a week-long disruption potentially totalling between 70 billion and 130 billion rupiah. Secretary general Bayu Sutanto told iNews Media Group that the business impact on carriers was dual involving both lost revenue and surging operational expenses particularly at Soekarno-Hatta and Radin Inten II airports. Emitters such as Garuda Indonesia and related aviation service providers faced immediate pressure from the shutdowns a CNBC Indonesia analysis of market exposure indicated.
Schools across Jakarta shifted classes online for Monday while some shipping services in the Sunda Strait encountered disruptions the national disaster agency indicated in its updates. Health advisories urged residents to take precautions against respiratory irritation from the falling ash that has coated urban areas. Disaster agency chief Suharyanto highlighted that sufficient heavy rainfall could accelerate the clearing of volcanic deposits from affected zones.
Frustrated passengers at Soekarno-Hatta described hours spent seeking clarity on rescheduled flights with many international routes to Singapore Doha and Sydney among those hardest hit. Airlines including Singapore Airlines Qantas and regional carriers cancelled or diverted services in response to the ash warnings issued by air navigation authorities. The disruptions underscore the vulnerability of Indonesia’s extensive air travel network which handles millions of passengers annually across its archipelago.
