UAE carriers have cancelled flights to Jakarta as eight airports across Indonesia remain closed due to volcanic ash from eruptions at Mount Anak Krakatau.
In a statement shared on its website, Emirates airline announced that four flights from Dubai – EK356/07, EK357/07, EK358/07 and EK359/07 – stand cancelled as on Monday. The flights were also grounded on Sunday.
“Customers connecting through Dubai to Jakarta will not be accepted for travel at their point of origin until further notice,” the airline said, adding: “Customers are advised to check flight status regularly, review the latest operational updates on emirates.com, and check their email for any notifications about changes or cancellations to their flights before travelling to the airport.
Etihad Airways has also cancelled and delayed flights to Jakarta from Abu Dhabi. Ash from Anak Krakatau, which sits halfway between the islands of Java and Sumatra, has blanketed Jakarta and several surrounding areas since it erupted late on Friday, leading to the closure of the airports for safety reasons.
Indonesia's transport ministry said 170,000 people have been affected by flight cancellations.
“We cannot ascertain when this will end due to the dynamic weather,” Indonesian Transport Minister Dudy Purwagandhi said on Monday, adding that seven other airports, which included the ones serving Jakarta's nearby provinces of Lampung and West Java, would remain closed until at least 8.59am.
Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, Jakarta's main airport, will remain closed until 6pm local time (3pm Gulf Standard Time), its operators said on Monday. Other international airports that remain closed include: Halim Perdanakusuma Airport in Jakarta; Pondok Cabe Airfield in the Jakarta region; Radin Inten II International Airport in Lampung; Husein Sastranegara Airport in Bandung, West Java; and Budiarto Airport in Curug.
Two domestic airports – Taufik Kiemas Airport in Pesisir Barat, Lampung and Atung Bungsu Airport in Pagar Alam in South Sumatra – are also closed.
The volcano monitoring agency's website showed that the most recent Anak Krakatau eruption occurred on Sunday at 8.23pm.
The agency warned on Monday that “the probability of further eruptions in the coming periods remains high”.
The eruptions have seen ash reach as high as 6,000 metres on the Java side of the volcano and 15,000 metres on the Sumatra side, meteorological agency BMKG posted on its website.
On Sunday, the disaster agency called for people to wear masks while travelling outdoors to avoid breathing in the ash. In Jakarta and Lampung, schools will use remote learning to mitigate health risks for students, the state news agency Antara reported.
Indonesia sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire, where earthquakes and volcanic eruptions are frequent.
Anak Krakatau, which means “child of Krakatau”, began emerging a century ago from the area previously occupied by the volcanic island group known as Krakatoa. The older volcano destroyed itself in mass eruptions in 1883, which killed more than 36,000 people in a series of tsunamis.
