Jakarta airport reopens as Anak Krakatau ash disruption eases

JAKARTA’S main airport and four other airports in and around Java reopened early Tuesday after several days of closures caused by volcanic ash from Mount Anak Krakatau, Indonesia’s Transport Ministry said.

The ministry said on Instagram that airports serving the capital and four other airports near Jakarta or elsewhere on Java had resumed operations as the threat to aviation safety from the ash cloud eased.

Eight airports were forced to suspend operations over the weekend after volcanic ash was detected in their respective airspace, disrupting nearly 3,000 flights and leaving more than 340,000 passengers stranded, according to the ministry on Monday.

AFP reported that officials from Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Jakarta saying on Instagram that it had resumed flight operations despite ongoing eruptive activity at Mount Anak Krakatau.

The airport closures had been repeatedly extended as the volcanic ash threat persisted.

More than 240 domestic and international flights were cancelled or delayed at Soekarno-Hatta alone on Monday morning, affecting nearly 30,000 passengers, the airport said.

Airlines now face the major task of transporting stranded passengers to their destinations following several days of disruption at airports.

The four other airports listed by the ministry as reopening included Halim Perdanakusuma Airport, a smaller airport in Jakarta serving civilian and military flights, and Husein Sastranegara Airport in Bandung, the capital of West Java.

Another smaller airport in southern Sumatra resumed operations on Monday morning, leaving two of the original eight airports still closed.

The Transport Ministry had earlier designated six alternative airports for aircraft originally scheduled to land in Jakarta.

Mount Anak Krakatau, located about 150 kilometres from Jakarta in the Sunda Strait between Java and Sumatra, erupted on Saturday, spewing lava and plumes of volcanic ash.

The volcano has been intermittently active since emerging from the sea in the early 20th century within the caldera formed by the 1883 eruption of Krakatau.

In 2018, a tsunami triggered by the collapse of part of Mount Anak Krakatau killed 429 people and left thousands homeless. - September 8, 2026