Indonesian authorities said Tuesday that all airports shut down by volcanic ash from Mount Anak Krakatau have resumed normal operations, bringing an end to several days of severe disruption to the country’s aviation network.
A spokesperson for Indonesia’s disaster mitigation agency said restrictions had been lifted at all seven facilities that were closed over the weekend, describing the situation as significantly improved with no airports still affected as of Tuesday. Officials cautioned, however, that the volcano remains active and that conditions could shift again quickly, so authorities intend to keep monitoring ash levels and adjust operations as needed.
Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, the country’s main gateway near Jakarta, along with Halim Perdanakusuma and Bandung’s Husein Sastranegara airport, returned to service early Tuesday once safety inspections confirmed conditions had improved. Two smaller airports followed shortly after. In total, the closures had disrupted close to 3,000 flights and affected roughly 340,000 travelers since ash first began drifting into Indonesian airspace late last week.
Transport officials said it may still take some time for schedules to fully normalize, since nearly 180 aircraft grounded during the closures now require airworthiness checks before returning to service. The volcano, located in the strait between Java and Sumatra, erupted several more times on Tuesday morning, though officials said the latest activity appeared less severe than the initial eruption. Anak Krakatau remains one of roughly 130 active volcanoes across Indonesia, a country that sits along the seismically volatile Pacific “Ring of Fire.”
