Anak Krakatau eruption suspends flights at Jakarta airport

Volcanic ash from Indonesia’s erupting Anak Krakatau volcano forced the suspension of hundreds of flights at the country’s main international airport on Sunday, disrupting travel for more than 22,000 passengers and prompting health warnings for nearby residents.

Authorities said 209 flights were suspended after ash was detected in airspace near Soekarno-Hatta International Airport outside Jakarta. The airport halted operations until 1:30 p.m. local time, or 06:30 GMT, because of increased eruptive activity at the volcano, which lies in the Sunda Strait between Java and Sumatra, more than 150 kilometers from the capital.

The disruption mainly affected flights to and from Singapore, Indonesia’s transport ministry said, as well as other international routes including Doha, Sydney and Kuala Lumpur. Singapore Airlines was among the carriers affected, cancelling two flights to and from Jakarta on Saturday and delaying two more into Sunday, Al Jazeera reported.

An earlier suspension had been set to end at 5:30 a.m. local time and affected 33 flights, including 16 international cancellations and seven delays, according to Indonesia’s Ministry of Transportation. The extension followed a “paper test” conducted between 12:35 a.m. and 1:05 a.m. that confirmed volcanic ash at the airport, Director General of Civil Aviation Lukman F Laisa said.

“Safety remains the top priority in every operational decision, including flight schedule adjustments made by airlines,” Lukman said, adding that authorities would keep monitoring conditions with airlines, air navigation services and Indonesia’s meteorological agency.

Anak Krakatau began erupting late Friday, producing continuous seismic activity, lava fountains and booming sounds across surrounding regions. Indonesia’s meteorological agency BMKG said the sounds could be heard up to 700 kilometers away. Two more eruptions were recorded early Sunday, authorities said.

Ash was detected as high as 6,000 meters on the Java side of the volcano, and a plume reached up to 15,000 meters on the Sumatra side and in parts of Banten province in Java, BMKG said on its website, according to Al Jazeera. Volcanic ash is dangerous to aircraft because it can damage jet engines and reduce visibility.

Indonesian authorities said there was no tsunami warning or imminent tsunami risk linked to the recent activity. The health minister urged residents in affected areas to stay indoors and wear face masks to protect against respiratory, eye and skin irritation.

Local newspaper Kompas reported that several schools cancelled activities on Saturday after students and residents complained of eye irritation from the ash. Some fishermen also cancelled trips to sea after reporting sore eyes. One resident, Aldi Candra Prayogi, told Kompas that since Friday evening it had felt like “small grains of sand had gotten into my eyes,” and said he had to use eye drops to ease the irritation. He also said the dust was so thick he had to sweep the front yard of his house every five minutes.

Anak Krakatau, meaning Child of Krakatoa, emerged from the sea in the early 20th century in the caldera left by the 1883 eruption of Krakatoa. It has erupted periodically since. In December 2018, the volcano collapsed, triggering a tsunami that killed more than 400 people and displaced and injured thousands along nearby coastlines in Sumatra and Java. Scientists later found that some of the rock chunks that slid from the volcano during the collapse were about 70 to 90 meters high.

Indonesia sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire, an area of frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions around the Pacific rim.