Anak Krakatau Eruption Grounds Hundreds of Flights as Volcanic Ash Shuts Jakarta Airports
A fresh eruption from Anak Krakatau sent volcanic ash drifting across Indonesia’s Sunda Strait on Sunday, closing eight airports and forcing the cancellation of more than 1,500 flights in the country’s busiest travel corridor.
Indonesia’s Geological Agency said Anak Krakatau had shown signs of activity since Friday before it erupted for about 30 seconds in the early hours of Sunday. Indonesia’s Center for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation and the Darwin Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre identified two ash clouds using satellite imagery: one climbed to 20,000 feet and drifted northeast over Jakarta, Banten, West Java and nearby waters; the other reached 50,000 feet and spread across parts of Banten, Lampung, Bengkulu, the southern Sunda Strait and adjacent waters of the Indian Ocean west of Sumatra.
No casualties were reported and no evacuation orders were issued. The nearest settlement is more than 10 miles from the crater, though authorities warned people to stay at least 2 miles clear of it. Video shot from a fishing boat at sea showed lava shooting into the air above the volcano.
Ashfall was reported in parts of Jakarta and Lampung province on Sumatra’s southern tip. AirNav Indonesia closed the airspace around Soekarno-Hatta and Halim Perdanakusuma airports in Jakarta, Radin Inten II airport in Lampung and four other airports because of volcanic ash. By Sunday evening, the shutdown covered eight airports and affected about 170,000 passengers from 1,558 canceled flights. Soekarno-Hatta, Indonesia’s main international gateway, accounted for 963 of those cancellations. The closures were ordered to remain in effect until 8:59 a.m. Monday local time.
“It’s of course an inconvenience,” said Diego Urdiales, a Spanish tourist who was supposed to fly home to Madrid. “I was supposed to get input from the airline ... but so far no news.”
“It’s a natural disaster, it’s a force majeure, so, what can we do?” said Michele Gouw, an Indonesian passenger. “We just have to accept it and wait for the airline and airport directions.”
“Safety remains our top priority in every operational decision,” said Lukman F. Laisa, director general of civil aviation at the Ministry of Transportation. He warned that flight schedules could face cascading disruptions affecting aircraft rotations, fleet availability and terminal capacity as airlines work to restore normal operations.
Lana Saria, head of Indonesia’s Geological Agency, said Anak Krakatau’s activity had intensified since July and Sunday’s eruption was the strongest during that period. She said the repeated eruptions indicate a continued supply of magma and volcanic gases beneath the volcano, though officials cannot predict whether a larger eruption will occur. “We continue to evaluate the volcano’s development based on all monitoring data, not solely on the number of eruptions or the height of the ash column,” Saria said in a video briefing. The main hazards, she added, include volcanic ash, high concentrations of gas and the ejection of hot rocks and other material around the crater.
Volcanic ash is especially dangerous for jet aircraft: it can abrade engine components, disrupt airflow and damage flight instruments. With Soekarno-Hatta operating as a major transfer hub, a long shutdown can ripple through domestic and international schedules long after the ash plume has moved on.
The eruption’s impact extended beyond aviation. The government authorized schools in areas affected by ashfall to shift temporarily to online learning at home, a measure designed to reduce students’ exposure and give local authorities flexibility in deciding whether classroom activities can resume safely.
Anak Krakatau means “child of Krakatau.” The volcano grew from the site of Krakatau, whose monumental 1883 eruption triggered a period of global cooling. In 2018, an eruption of Anak Krakatau generated a tsunami that killed at least 430 people on the coasts of Java and Sumatra. Scientists later said the disaster was linked to volcanic activity that caused an underwater landslide and the collapse of a large chunk of the volcano’s southwest slope; Anak Krakatau was left at only about a quarter of its previous size.