Air travel at Jakarta's Soekarno-Hatta International Airport has been suspended, leaving more than 22,000 passengers stranded after ash from the erupting Anak Krakatau entered nearby airspace. Authorities halted 209 flights on Sunday and extended the pause in operations until 13:30, local officials said.
The interruption followed a series of eruptions that began late on Friday and continued into Sunday, producing sustained seismic activity, lava fountains and audible explosions across surrounding areas. Two further eruptive events occurred early on Sunday, prompting officials to close parts of the airspace that serve the capital.
The transport ministry said the suspension chiefly disrupted services to and from Singapore, and affected other international routes including Doha, Sydney and Kuala Lumpur. Airport operators and airlines grounded flights while aviation safety teams assessed ash concentration and visibility in the approach and departure corridors.
There is no tsunami warning linked to the recent activity, authorities confirmed. The health minister advised residents in affected districts to remain indoors and wear face masks to reduce exposure to ash, which can irritate the eyes, skin and respiratory system.
Local schools cancelled activities on Saturday after students and residents reported eye irritation, and some fishermen called off trips because of the airborne dust. One resident, Aldi Candra Prayogi, told a local newspaper that he felt irritation since Friday evening and that "small grains of sand had gotten into my eyes," forcing him to use eye drops. He said the dust was so thick he had to sweep his front yard every five minutes.
Anak Krakatau, or Child of Krakatoa, lies in the Sunda Strait between Java and Sumatra and has been intermittently active since emerging from the sea early last century. The volcano's collapse in December 2018 generated a deadly tsunami that killed over 400 people and left thousands more displaced or injured, and scientific studies found some rock masses that slid from the volcano were about 70-90m high.
Authorities kept the capital's main aviation hub closed while monitoring ash movement and public health risks. The immediate consequence is a mass disruption of international and regional travel, with operations scheduled to remain paused until at least 13:30 (0630 GMT) as agencies evaluate conditions for a safe restart.
