JAKARTA, Sept 8 — All eight Indonesian airports temporarily shut due to volcanic ash from Mount Anak Krakatau, which disrupted hundreds of flights and affected thousands of passengers, are back in operation after the remaining four reopened on Tuesday.
The Transport Ministry’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation said the four airports are Radin Inten II Airport in Lampung, Budiarto Airport in Tangerang, Pondok Cabe Airport in South Tangerang and Muhammad Taufiq Kiemas Airport in Lampung.
They joined Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Tangerang, Halim Perdanakusuma Airport in Jakarta and Husein Sastranegara Airport in Bandung, which resumed operations shortly after midnight on Tuesday after aviation and meteorological authorities declared conditions safe.
Atung Bungsu Airport in Pagar Alam, South Sumatra, was the first of the eight to reopen at 9am on Monday after an assessment found it was no longer affected by volcanic ash.
“We will continue to closely monitor and coordinate with airlines, airport operators, air navigation services and other relevant agencies on flight operations,” the directorate said in a post on its official Instagram account.
The closures began over the weekend after volcanic ash from Anak Krakatau, located in the Sunda Strait between Java and Sumatra, disrupted hundreds of flights and affected thousands of passengers.
Despite the reopening of all eight airports, volcanic ash from Anak Krakatau remained in the atmosphere on Tuesday.
The Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) said volcanic ash from Anak Krakatau was still detected at an altitude of up to 1.8km as of 7am on Tuesday, moving south-southwest across parts of western Banten towards the Indian Ocean.
BMKG forecast generally clear to cloudy conditions around Anak Krakatau through Thursday, with southeasterly winds on Tuesday expected to shift easterly over the next two days.
The agency urged the public, particularly communities along the Sunda Strait coast, to remain vigilant, follow official updates and comply with instructions from the authorities.
