Indonesia airports reopen after volcano disrupts nearly 3,000 flights
Flights are resuming after two days of closures, but hundreds of thousands of passengers face the knock-on effects of widespread disruption
Five Indonesian airports have reopened after volcanic ash from Anak Krakatau forced operations to be suspended for two days, with more than 340,000 passengers affected by the disruption.
Nearly 3,000 flights were disrupted during the closures, significantly increasing the scale of the impact since ITIJ’s previous update on the eruption.
Jakarta’s Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, which suspended operations on Sunday morning, resumed flights at 00:30 local time on Tuesday.
The reopening will allow airlines to begin clearing the backlog of affected passengers, although some travellers continue to face lengthy delays before they can return home.
A Malaysian couple who had been honeymooning in Bali, for example, told the BBC that they had been told their next available flight to Kuala Lumpur would not depart until 11 September.
Other passengers sought alternative ways to complete their journeys during the closures, including switching to intercity rail services.
The disruption has left travellers facing potential additional expenditure on accommodation and alternative transport, although recovery through travel insurance will depend on individual policy terms and any refunds or assistance available from airlines and other travel providers.
Despite the reopening of airports, the risk of further disruption has not entirely receded. Indonesia's Geological Agency warned on Monday that the probability of further eruptions remained high.
Authorities are also maintaining a 3km exclusion zone around the volcano, including restrictions on vessels travelling through the Sunda Strait.