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JAKARTA - Jakarta's main airport and three others extended their closure to 6:00 pm on Monday after being forced to halt operations due to a volcanic eruption, leaving tens of thousands of passengers stranded.
Mount Anak Krakatau, about 150 kilometres (90 miles) from Indonesia's capital, erupted on Saturday, spewing a fountain of lava and plume of volcanic ash.
Eight airports halted operations over the weekend after ash was detected in their airspace, disrupting hundreds of flights and leaving more than 170,000 passengers stranded, according to the transport ministry.
At least four airports, including Jakarta's Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, extended their closure from Monday morning to 6:00 pm (1100 GMT), airport operator Angkasa Pura said in a social media post.
"In connection with the increasing eruption activity of Mount Anak Krakatau, flight operations at several airports have been suspended; passengers are advised to regularly monitor their flight status with the respective airlines," the operator said.
Halim Perdanakusuma, a smaller airport that caters to both civil and military flights, also extended its closure, the company said.
The probability of an eruption remains high until Monday morning, the country's geology agency said.
"The threat from an eruption comes from the ejection of incandescent rocks accompanied by heavy ashfall. Another potential hazard arises from lava flows if the eruption resumes and continues," the agency said.
Yesterday, more than 150,000 passengers were left stranded as Indonesia shuttered its main international airport and seven others, cancelling hundreds of flights after Mount Anak Krakatoa spewed a plume of volcanic ash and lava from more than 150 kilometres away.
Mount Anak Krakatau erupted on Saturday, producing a fountain of lava and booming sounds that could be heard up to a few hundred kilometres away, the geology agency said in a statement.
Two new eruptions were recorded on Sunday, the volcanology agency warned.
Ash from the volcano was detected in the airspace surrounding Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, prompting authorities to initially suspend operations from 1:30 am on Sunday (Saturday 1830 GMT) to 5:30 am.
The suspension was extended several times, with the latest set to end at 9:30 pm on Sunday, the local airport authority said in a social media post.
Operations have also been suspended at seven other airports including the Husein Sastranegara airport in Bandung and Radin Inten II airport near Bandar Lampung on Sumatra, the transportation ministry said in a statement.
"From the closures, it is known that more than 150,000 passengers were stranded, with 467 flights affected, consisting of 58 international flights and 409 domestic flights," the ministry said.
Several airports in cities including Semarang and Surabaya have been prepared as "alternatives for landing," Transportation Minister Dudy Purwagandhi said.
The disruption left some passengers scrambling to find alternative flights.
Anak Krakatau, which means Child of Krakatau, sits in a strait that separates the islands of Java and Sumatra.
The volcano has been sporadically active since it emerged from the sea at the beginning of last century in the caldera that formed after the 1883 eruption of Mount Krakatoa.
That disaster was one of the deadliest and most destructive in history with an estimated 35,000 people killed.
Geology agency head Lana Saria said "seismic activity indicates the movement or release of volcanic fluids within the volcanic system".
A 2018 tsunami triggered by a collapse of parts of Anak Krakatoa killed 429 people and left thousands displaced.
Indonesia, a Southeast Asian archipelago nation, sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire, where the meeting of continental plates causes high volcanic and seismic activity. - AFP
