Jakarta's Main Airport Suspended Flights as Anak Krakatau Erupted and Ash Spread Over the Capital Region

Volcanic ash from Mount Anak Krakatau forced Soekarno-Hatta International Airport near Jakarta to suspend operations, Al Jazeera reported, after a series of eruptions that began late Friday and continued through the weekend, with Indonesia's meteorological agency, BMKG, recording two further eruptions on Sunday. BMKG said the activity produced a lava fountain and booming sounds audible up to 700 kilometers away. Indonesian aviation authorities ultimately suspended operations at six airports in the greater Jakarta and Lampung region, including Soekarno-Hatta, Halim Perdanakusuma, Radin Inten II, Pondok Cabe and Budiarto, Antara reported. AirNav Indonesia, the state air-navigation provider, later set a reopening time of about 1:30 p.m. local time Sunday for Soekarno-Hatta and about 2 p.m. for Halim under updated flight notices, Antara reported.

The disruption to air travel was substantial: 301 flights were affected, including 58 international services, according to airport operator Angkasa Pura, as Malay Mail reported. Ash covered most of Tangerang city, west of Jakarta, Antara reported, and the Jakarta Environment Office tightened air-quality monitoring while public-health specialists advised residents to limit outdoor exposure. Some schools canceled activities after students and residents reported eye irritation from the ash, and fishing was suspended in parts of the Sunda Strait. The volcano has been at alert level three, the second-highest on Indonesia's four-step scale, since early July. No deaths or injuries had been reported by Sunday afternoon, and no evacuation order was issued.

The Hindu noted the history that shapes Indonesian planning here. The explosive collapse of part of Anak Krakatau in 2018 generated a tsunami that killed at least 430 people on the coasts of Sumatra and Java. That is the reason authorities monitor the cone's flank stability as closely as they monitor its ash column.

The economic exposure runs through two channels. Soekarno-Hatta is Indonesia's main international gateway and a hub for Southeast Asian connections, and the Sunda Strait carries coastal shipping between Java and Sumatra. Ash clouds close both without warning, and Sunday's staged reopening showed they resume on the volcano's schedule and the ash forecast, not on the aviation industry's timetable.