Jakarta Airport suspends flights due to ash on Mount Anak Krakatoa; SIA among the affected airlines

PASSENGERS STUCK IN SUKARNO-HATTA INTERNATIONAL TERMINAL

Ash reached heights of 6,000m on the Java side of the volcano and 15,000m on the Sumatra side and in parts of Java’s Banten province, weather agency BMKG said on its website.

Ersi Laxita Rini, 55, was upset when she arrived at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport and learned that her 8am flight to Surabaya had been cancelled. She said the airline did not inform her in advance.

“If the eruption had happened last night and there were forecasts for flight cancellations, we should have been notified from the beginning,” she told Reuters. “This way, passengers wouldn’t have to get here so early and could instead look for alternatives.”

French national Eloane Tasset, 21, received a message from Batik Air that his flight to holiday destination Manado in North Sulawesi had been delayed, but he said it was unclear how long the delay would be.

“If they tell me my flight is cancelled, I think I’ll try to find a hotel in Jakarta“, he said.

The airport operator said it was providing meals and light refreshments to affected passengers and buses to hotels in coordination with the airlines.

Disaster mitigation agency BNPB said it would carry out a weather modification operation on Sunday that could include cloud seeding to promote rain.

“If it rains hard enough, the volcanic ash that has been disrupting our daily lives since yesterday and continues today will be quickly washed away,” BNPB chief Suharyanto told a news conference.

The Transport Ministry has named three other airports in Java – Kertajati, Ahmad Yani and Juanda – as alternatives “if airlines or operators are able to change their flights,” Minister Dudi Purwagandhi said.