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Jakarta’s main international airport will remain closed until at least 1am Singapore time on Sept 8 as volcanic ash from Anak Krakatau continues to disrupt air travel, with thousands of flights affected since Sept 5.

The closure of Soekarno-Hatta International Airport and six other airports was extended by another six hours to 11.59pm local time on Sept 7, according to an update from the Transport Ministry’s regional airport authority.

The ministry said the disruption had affected about 2,300 flights and 270,337 passengers as at 9am on Sept 7, including cancellations, delays and diversions.

The seven airports are Soekarno-Hatta and Halim Perdanakusuma in Jakarta, Radin Inten II and Muhammad Taufiq Kiemas in Lampung, Husein Sastranegara in West Java, and Budiarto and Pondok Cabe in Banten.

An eighth airport, Atung Bungsu in South Sumatra, which had also been closed, resumed normal operations at 9am after tests for volcanic ash returned negative.

The latest extension means a second full day of disruption for travellers in Jakarta, including those flying between Indonesia and Singapore.

A Changi Airport Group spokesman said 31 flights between Singapore and Jakarta scheduled for Sept 7 had been cancelled as at 7pm, with additional staff deployed to assist affected travellers and manage queues.

Singapore Airlines (SIA) cancelled nine flights from Singapore to Jakarta and nine in the opposite direction on Sept 7. The airline also cancelled its 5.25am Jakarta-Singapore service on Sept 8.

SIA is putting on additional services between Singapore and Surabaya to provide passengers with another way to travel between the two countries.

Two additional Singapore-Surabaya flights were scheduled to depart at 9.40pm on Sept 7 and 12.40am on Sept 8, with two additional return services from Surabaya in the early hours of Sept 8.

Passengers affected by the Jakarta cancellations can also rebook on other SIA services between Singapore and Indonesia, the airline said.

Scoot, meanwhile, cancelled five Singapore-Jakarta and five Jakarta-Singapore services on Sept 7. Affected passengers can rebook alternative Scoot flights to or from other Indonesian destinations, or request a full refund.

Garuda Indonesia said all its flights to and from Jakarta, Bandung and Lampung scheduled through midnight on Sept 7 had been cancelled. Flights after midnight would be restored gradually depending on whether the affected airports were able to operate.

At Soekarno-Hatta alone, airport operator InJourney Airports said 624 flights involving about 75,236 passengers had been affected as at the afternoon of Sept 7.

Transport Minister Dudy Purwagandhi said volcanic ash tests were being carried out every 30 minutes as the authorities grappled with changing wind directions at different altitudes.

Indonesian meteorological agency BMKG detected volcanic ash at two altitude layers on the morning of Sept 7, reaching up to 15,000 feet and 50,000 feet.

Dudy said the different wind directions made it difficult to predict when the ash would move away from affected airports and when they could safely reopen.

The government has prepared alternative airports in Surabaya, Solo, Yogyakarta, Semarang and Kertajati in West Java, and urged airlines, particularly international carriers, to use them to help move passengers stranded in Indonesia and overseas.

Garuda had already used Kertajati for four flights, while flights from Jeddah and Amsterdam were also expected to land at the West Java airport on Sept 7.

Dudy said the authorities would provide ground transport for passengers whose flights were shifted to alternative airports, including buses and trains, with the costs borne by the airport operator.

Even when conditions allow the seven airports to reopen, operations may not resume immediately. Dudy said ash would have to be cleared from runways, taxiways and aprons, while aircraft would need to be inspected to ensure volcanic material had not entered their engines.

At a virtual meeting on disaster response on Sept 7, President Prabowo Subianto said the Anak Krakatau eruption, alongside a recent earthquake in Flores, and ongoing forest and land fires and haze, highlighted the need for Indonesia to invest more heavily in preparing for natural disasters.

A magnitude-7.7 earthquake struck Flores and the surrounding islands in East Nusa Tenggara on Aug 15, killing at least 111 people. Thousands of aftershocks have since been recorded.

Indonesia is also battling forest and land fires across Sumatra and Kalimantan during its dry season, with the authorities stepping up firefighting and weather-modification operations amid concerns that smoke could spread to neighbouring countries.

“This is our fate, as a country located on the Ring of Fire,” Prabowo said, adding that the government should “significantly” increase its budget allocation for disaster mitigation.

He said the authorities should prepare more helicopters, water pumps, firefighting equipment and other resources before disasters occur, rather than scrambling to respond afterwards.

“So we prepare before an incident happens,” he said.

The eruption has also disrupted daily life beyond aviation. Schools in Jakarta and several other affected areas switched to remote learning on Sept 7 to reduce children’s exposure to volcanic ash.

The Health Ministry has warned that ash can cause respiratory problems and eye and skin irritation, particularly among vulnerable groups.

It estimated that some 3.3 million elderly people could be at risk from ash exposure, and advised people in affected areas to use N95 or KN95 masks and protective glasses when outdoors.

Despite the disruption to aviation, ferry services across the Sunda Strait continued to operate, although Dudy said passenger numbers had fallen as many travellers appeared to be cancelling their journeys rather than switching from air to sea transport.

Anak Krakatau, located in the Sunda Strait between Java and Sumatra, began erupting on Sept 4. Volcanic ash was detected at Soekarno-Hatta early on Sept 6, prompting closure of the airport.

On the evening of Sept 7, Anak Krakatau remained at Level III, or Siaga, the second-highest alert level, with people prohibited from going within 3km of the volcano.

Indonesia’s Geological Agency said on Sept 7 that volcanic activity had declined after a 25-hour period of continuous eruption ended, but the probability of further eruptions remained high. The latest recorded eruption was at 8.23pm on Sept 6.

Source : straitstimes