Indonesians board buses and trains as volcano ash from Mount Anak Krakatau halts flights

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JAKARTA – Thousands of airline passengers abandoned trips and sought alternative transport as ash from Indonesia’s Mount Anak Krakatau’s eruption triggered hundreds of flight disruptions.

As many as seven airports have been closed and four, including Jakarta’s main gateway, will remain shut until 6pm local time (7pm Singapore time) on Sept 7, according to a statement from state-owned air navigation operator AirNav Indonesia.

The closures since early Sept 6 include Soekarno-Hatta International Airport on the island of Java, and Lampung’s Radin Inten II airport on the southern tip of Sumatra.

Some 150,000 passengers have been affected by the halt of over 400 flights, mostly domestic, following the eruption, the Coordinating Ministry for Infrastructure and Regional Development said in a statement on Sept 7.

Passenger safety remained the priority, it added.

Passengers on cancelled international flights were stranded in departure cities, while others joined long queues for refunds or rescheduling, according to local media reports.

Domestic passengers are boarding buses and trains in lieu of flights.

Airport operators are offering free bus rides, while state-owned train operator Kereta Api Indonesia is increasing capacity.

“I was supposed to do an operation on Tuesday, but I had to move it to Wednesday because of the delay,” said Johannes Aritonang, a 39-year-old urologist from Jakarta stranded in Manila after his Philippine Airlines flight home was cancelled on the night of Sept 5.

After failing to find seats on alternative routes through Hong Kong or Singapore, he and two fellow doctors booked flights via Kuala Lumpur and Surabaya, and plan to finish the journey to Jakarta by train.

“The lesson for me is that you really need to have emergency funds ready because you never know when you’ll suddenly need to spend more,” he said.

Some Jakarta-bound flights, including a couple of Garuda Indonesia aircraft carrying returning Muslim pilgrims, were diverted to Kertajati airport some 180km from the capital of Jakarta, according to news reports.

The passengers had to rely on buses and trains to complete their journeys.

Seven airports across Java, Bali and Sumatra islands have been designated as alternative airports.

Singapore Airlines, one of the biggest foreign operators of flights in and out of Jakarta, announced on X that its entire schedule for Sept 7 into the early morning of Sept 8 was cancelled.

Anak Krakatau, located in the Sunda Strait between the islands of Java and Sumatra, has been active since early July, with eruptions intensifying on the night of Sept 4.

As of 11am local time, volcanic ash was still detected over parts of Indonesia, including Jakarta, Banten and West Java, as well as areas around Lampung, Bengkulu and South Sumatra, according to the weather agency’s website.

On Sept 6, thin layers of dust covered parked vehicles and even household floors. 

The shutdown of Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, Indonesia’s busiest airport and main international gateway, threatens to snarl travel well beyond the capital.

A prolonged airport closing could strand tens of thousands more passengers and disrupt flights across the region. 

Schools in Jakarta and its satellite cities, meanwhile, switched to distance learning on Sept 7.

Free meal distributions, a flagship policy of President Prabowo Subianto, will be paused at affected schools. BLOOMBERG