By Sadaf Sundas Riaz — SCN NEWS
JAKARTA — Indonesia closed eight airports and disrupted travel for about 170,000 passengers on Sunday after the eruption of Anak Krakatau sent volcanic ash high into major flight corridors, bringing operations at Jakarta's principal international gateway to a halt and triggering widespread cancellations across one of Southeast Asia's busiest aviation networks. More than 1,500 flights were affected across the eight airports, according to Indonesia's transport ministry, with Jakarta's Soekarno-Hatta International Airport accounting for roughly 964 flights.
Anak Krakatau, located in the Sunda Strait between the densely populated islands of Java and Sumatra, had been erupting since late Friday before ash was detected around Jakarta's airport early Sunday. Indonesia's meteorological agency said ash reached about 20,000 feet on the Java side and as high as 50,000 feet on the Sumatra side, creating a serious aviation hazard and demonstrating how an eruption on a relatively small volcanic island could disrupt transport far beyond the immediate crater area.
The disruption extended well beyond domestic travel. Singapore Airlines, Malaysia Airlines, AirAsia and Lion Air Group were among carriers cancelling services to and from Jakarta, while international flights involving destinations including Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Guangzhou, Hong Kong and Doha were affected. The closures also created wider operational problems for airlines as aircraft, crews and passengers were displaced from their planned schedules.
Indonesia's aviation authorities warned that the consequences could continue even after airspace reopened. Cancelled and diverted aircraft can leave planes and crews in the wrong cities, producing cascading disruption to aircraft rotations, fleet availability and airport terminal capacity as airlines attempt to rebuild their schedules. That means Sunday's headline figure of 170,000 affected passengers may not capture the full operational consequences of the eruption.
At Soekarno-Hatta, passengers faced cancellations, delays and uncertainty as the airport repeatedly extended its suspension. The airport operator provided food and refreshments and coordinated buses to hotels for affected travellers, while passengers sought refunds, alternative flights and information about when services might resume.
The crisis was not confined to airports. Volcanic ash reached communities in parts of western Indonesia, including Bandar Lampung, where roads and vehicles were coated with ash. Several schools had already cancelled activities after students and residents experienced eye irritation, while some fishermen stopped going to sea because of conditions linked to the eruption. Authorities advised people affected by ashfall to wear masks and eye protection, reduce outdoor activity, protect water sources and drive cautiously because ash could reduce visibility.
Indonesia's disaster mitigation agency also planned weather-modification measures intended to encourage rainfall that could help wash volcanic ash from affected areas. Authorities stressed that the public should remain vigilant while avoiding panic, and vessels operating through the Sunda Strait were advised to remain at least three kilometres from Anak Krakatau's crater. Ferry services in the strait continued operating.
No casualties had been reported and authorities had not ordered evacuations from nearby communities. Indonesia's Geological Agency said the volcano's activity had intensified since July and Sunday's eruption was the strongest during that period. Authorities maintained a three-kilometre exclusion zone around the crater while continuing to monitor volcanic activity.
Anak Krakatau carries particular historical significance for Indonesia. Its name means “Child of Krakatau,” and the volcano emerged from the area where the original Krakatau was largely destroyed by its catastrophic 1883 eruption. More recently, activity at Anak Krakatau triggered a tsunami in December 2018 that killed more than 400 people along the coasts of Java and Sumatra, although Indonesia's disaster authorities said Sunday's eruption did not present an imminent tsunami threat.
Indonesia's geography makes such disruption a persistent national risk. The archipelago sits along the Pacific Ring of Fire, an intensely active zone of tectonic boundaries where earthquakes and volcanic eruptions occur frequently. Anak Krakatau was among five Indonesian volcanoes at alert level 3 on Sunday, the second-highest level in the country's four-tier warning system.
The eruption illustrated a vulnerability that extends far beyond communities living close to active volcanoes. Volcanic ash can enter aviation corridors hundreds of kilometres from an eruption, forcing authorities to restrict airspace because fine ash particles can damage aircraft engines and other critical systems. In Indonesia, where air transport connects thousands of islands and Jakarta serves as the country's primary international gateway, such disruption can quickly become a national and regional transportation problem.
Sunday's shutdown therefore developed into more than a local volcanic emergency. Anak Krakatau's ash temporarily disconnected parts of Indonesia's aviation network, affected around 170,000 passengers and more than 1,500 flights, disrupted schools and fishing communities, and demonstrated how quickly one of the world's most volcanically active countries can face consequences stretching from public health on the ground to international aviation high above it.