Approximately 270,000 passengers have been stranded across Indonesia following a volcanic eruption that grounded over 2,000 flights and led to the suspension of airport operations for a second consecutive day. Anak Krakatau, located 150 kilometers from Jakarta, began erupting late on Friday, producing lava fountains and dispersing volcanic ash into the capital and the Lampung province. The volcano remained seismically active throughout the weekend.
Jakarta's Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, along with three other airports, has extended its closure until 18:00 local time on Monday due to the detection of volcanic ash in nearby airspaces. Schools in the region have transitioned to online classes, and some shipping operations have also been disrupted.
Long queues formed at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport on Monday as stranded passengers sought refunds and updates on flight statuses. Finna, a passenger scheduled to fly home to Jakarta from Malang, East Java, on Sunday morning, described the situation at the airport as chaotic, with flights being rescheduled repeatedly. "It was very crowded because passengers from the morning flights had piled up, while those scheduled for later departures still didn't know what would happen," the 46-year-old told BBC Indonesian.
To avoid uncertainty, Finna spent the night on two intercity trains before arriving in Jakarta at 03:00 on Monday. Jo Shaw, visiting Indonesia with her conservation charity Save the Rhino International, noted that her team had canceled plans to camp at Java's Ujung Kulon National Park after authorities raised the alert level for Anak Krakatau.
A newlywed couple from Malaysia, who had just spent a week in Bali, reported being told that their next flight back to Kuala Lumpur would not be until September 11. Amir Hamzah expressed concern about their situation, stating, "What are we going to do here for another five days? We only prepared enough money for our honeymoon and were supposed to go home yesterday."
On Monday, Indonesia's Geological Agency warned that the likelihood of further eruptions remains high. Volcanic ash reached altitudes of 6,000 meters on the Java side and 15,000 meters on the Sumatra side, according to the meteorological agency BMKG. The most recent eruption occurred at 20:23 on Sunday.
Transport Minister Dudy Purwagandhi stated that authorities are conducting tests every 30 minutes to monitor the ash spread. He indicated uncertainty regarding when the airport closures would end due to changing weather conditions. Authorities have advised against approaching or engaging in activities within a 3-kilometer radius of the active crater, and ships passing through the Sunda Strait have been prohibited from entering a similar exclusion zone.
There is currently no tsunami warning associated with the volcano's activity. Anak Krakatau, which translates to 'Child of Krakatoa,' has been intermittently active since its emergence from the sea in the early 20th century, following the caldera formation from the 1883 eruption of Mount Krakatoa. The volcano's collapse in December 2018 triggered a tsunami that resulted in over 400 fatalities and significant displacement along the coastlines of Sumatra and Java. Scientists have noted that some rock fragments that slid from the volcano during the collapse were approximately 70 to 90 meters high. The Pacific Ring of Fire, which encompasses a series of volcanoes and earthquake sites, spans 40,000 kilometers and contains 75% of the world's active volcanoes.