Flights to and from Jakarta resume after volcanic eruption forced 2-day closure

JAKARTA: Flights to and from Indonesia's capital Jakarta resumed early Tuesday after ash from a volcanic eruption forced a two-day closure that halted nearly 3,000 flights.

Soekarno-Hatta International Airport and Halim Perdanakusuma Airport serving Jakarta, Husein Sastranegara Airport in West Java's Bandung city and two smaller airports in Banten province reopened just after midnight, Transportation Minister Dudy Purwagandhi said.

Three other airports remained closed until 10 am (local time), including Radin Inten II Airport in Lampung on the southern tip of Sumatra island, despite improving conditions at some facilities.

Atung Bungsu Airport in Pagar Alam in South Sumatra province had resumed normal operations Monday morning.

“We are taking a conservative approach because wind direction is highly dynamic,” Purwagandhi said in a statement. “We want to ensure that volcanic ash has moved away from airports around Anak Krakatau.”

Although tests at several airports showed no traces of volcanic ash, the extended closures would allow time for inspecting and cleaning surfaces and equipment like runways, taxiways and aircraft that may have been exposed to volcanic ash, Purwagandhi said.

The continuous eruption of Anak Krakatau with lava fountains and loud booms ended Sunday but the volcanic island remained active on Tuesday morning.

The airport closures on Sunday and Monday disrupted nearly 2,961 flights, including 622 international services, and affected about 341,000 passengers.