Indonesia volcano eruption: 170,000 passengers stranded as 8 Indonesian airports close

Indonesia's Mount Anak Krakatau erupted over the weekend, spewing lava and towering plumes of volcanic ash that forced Indonesian authorities to close eight airports and ground more than 1,500 flights, leaving approximately 170,000 passengers stranded.

The eruption began on September 5 with fountains of lava and loud booms heard hundreds of kilometres away, followed by two additional eruptions on September 6. Volcanic ash drifted into airspace more than 150 km from the crater, prompting the Ministry of Transportation to suspend operations at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Jakarta, as well as Husein Sastranegara Airport in Bandung and Radin Inten II Airport near Bandar Lampung on Sumatra.

According to the ministry, a total of 1,558 flights were delayed or cancelled across the eight affected facilities by Sunday, including more than 900 flights at Soekarno-Hatta alone. Airport authorities extended the operational suspension at the capital's main hub into Monday morning due to ongoing eruptive activity.

The disruption extended beyond aviation. The city of Jakarta announced that schools would transition to online learning starting September 7, while volcanic ash blanketed roads and parked vehicles in Bandar Lampung at the southern tip of Sumatra. Port authorities prohibited ships from entering a 3-km exclusion zone around the volcano and instructed vessels navigating the Sunda Strait to exercise heightened caution.

Transportation Minister Dudy Purwagandhi said alternative airports, including those in Semarang and Surabaya, have been designated for diverted landings.

Stranded passengers at Soekarno-Hatta waited in long queues at check-in desks to reschedule their travel plans. “Everybody was disappointed,” said Henny Yensan, 44, a businesswoman who rescheduled her flight for September 8. “No one flew into a rage because, after all, this is due to natural disaster.”

Geology Agency Head Lana Saria warned against entering the 3-km exclusion zone, noting that ejected volcanic material presents a direct hazard. Saria added that the recent series of eruptions does not have the potential to trigger a tsunami.

Anak Krakatau sits in the Sunda Strait between the islands of Java and Sumatra. It formed in the caldera created by the catastrophic 1883 eruption of Mount Krakatau, which killed an estimated 35,000 people. In 2018, a partial collapse of Anak Krakatau triggered a tsunami that killed 429 people. Indonesia sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire, a region known for high seismic and volcanic activity.