This drone photo shows Mount Anak Krakatau spewing volcanic smoke. (AP Photo)
Indonesia halted operations at its main international airport outside Jakarta on Sept. 6 after ash spewed from the Anak Krakatoa volcano more than 150 kilometers away, impacting thousands of passengers.
Mount Anak Krakatoa erupted on Sept. 5, producing a fountain of lava and booming sounds that could be heard up to a few hundred kilometers away, the geology agency said in a statement.
Two new eruptions were recorded on Sept. 6, the volcanology agency warned.
Ash from the volcano was detected in the airspace surrounding Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, prompting authorities to suspend operations.
Operations have been suspended at six airports including the Hussein Sastranegara airport in Bandung and Radin Inten II airport near Bandar Lampung on Sumatra, the country’s Transportation Minister Dudy Purwagandhi said.
Several airports in cities, including Semarang and Surabaya, have been prepared as “alternatives for landing” Dudy added.
The disruption left some passengers scrambling to find alternative flights.
Henny Yensan, 44, who had hoped to go back to her hometown with her mother, said “everybody was disappointed.”
“No one flew into a rage, because after all, this is due to natural disaster,” the businesswoman, who had to reschedule her flight to tomorrow, told AFP.
More than 22,000 passengers have been impacted by the suspension, the transportation ministry said, adding that 209 flights were affected, in particular those to and from Singapore.
