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Anak Krakatau ash closes Jakarta's main airport and strands tens of thousands
Tyke / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Soekarno-Hatta halted flights Sunday after volcanic ash reached the airspace. Counts of closed airports and cancelled flights kept rising. Singapore Airlines and Qantas cancelled Jakarta service.
Indonesia suspended operations at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport on Sunday, Sept. 6, 2026, after ash from erupting Mount Anak Krakatau reached the Jakarta airspace. Authorities later closed additional airports, with reports ranging from five to eight, and the Straits Times said eight would stay shut until Sept. 7. Airport operator Angkasa Pura said 301 flights, including 58 international, were affected; the transport ministry earlier cited 209 flights and more than 22,000 passengers, while the BBC reported 150,000 stranded and 712 flights. Ash reached about 20,000 feet on the Java side and 50,000 feet on the Sumatra side, BMKG said. Officials said there was no imminent tsunami risk.
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Anak Krakatau: Volcano eruption closes six Indonesian airports
6 Sep 2026
Facts
More than 150,000 passengers were left stranded.
Transport minister Dudy Purwagandhi said 712 flights have been affected.
Purwagandhi urged airlines to speed up ticket refunds for cancelled flights and to give timely information to passengers.
Resident Aldi Candra Prayogi said it felt like small grains of sand had gotten into his eyes since Friday evening.
Aldi Candra Prayogi said the dust is so thick he has to sweep his front yard every five minutes.
Scientists found some rock chunks that slid from the volcano in 2018 were about 70-90 metres high.
About 90% of earthquakes occur along the Ring of Fire, which has 452 active volcanoes, 75% of the Earth's total.
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Anak Krakatau eruption halts flights at Indonesia’s main airport
6 Sep 2026
Facts
Volcanic ash from erupting Mount Anak Krakatau spread over the capital.
The airport said on Sunday it had halted operations until 5:30 p.m. local time.
Transportation Minister Dudy Purwagandhi said operations were suspended at six airports, including Bandung and Bandar Lampung.
The halt stranded hundreds of passengers.
Soekarno-Hatta is more than 150 kilometres from the volcano.
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Volcanic ash cloud halts flights at five Indonesian airports, including Jakarta’s
6 Sep 2026
Facts
Indonesia halted operations at five airports on Sunday, including its main international airport.
The halt suspended hundreds of flights because of an ash cloud from Anak Krakatau.
The airport was to remain closed until 1:30 p.m. local time Sunday.
Authorities announced several extensions of the Soekarno-Hatta shutdown.
The transport ministry said a paper test showed volcanic ash in the Soekarno-Hatta airport area.
Qantas said services will resume when conditions allow.
The airport operator said it was providing food and hotel buses for affected passengers.
Volcanic ash can damage airliners' jet engines by baking onto hot parts and clogging fuel and air systems.
Volcanic ash can also damage pilots' windscreens.
Local airport authorities said at least 16 domestic flights to Bali were cancelled.
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Flights to and from Indonesia's capital suspended after volcanic eruption
6 Sep 2026
Facts
ABC said several passengers travelling from Melbourne and Sydney to Jakarta were unable to fly as scheduled.
Yudistiawan urged travellers to double-check flight status through official airline channels.
BNPB spokesperson Berton Panjaitan said ash disrupted activities in Lampung and Banten.
Mujtahiddin said the ash was moving towards several areas, including West Java.
Opinion
Qantas said safety remains its highest priority.
Indonesia’s Mount Anak Krakatau volcano eruption sends ash cloud 15km into the sky
6 Sep 2026
Facts
Anak Krakatau erupted early Sunday.
The agency said the volcano erupted for 30 seconds at 3:53 a.m. Sunday.
Volcanic ash drifted across parts of western Indonesia.
The Geological Agency said Anak Krakatau had shown signs of activity since Friday.
No casualties were reported.
The Geological Agency's camera showed lava flares at the mountain.
No evacuation order was issued.
The volcanology centre said ash spread across parts of Jakarta and Lampung.
The nearest settlement is more than 16 kilometres away.
Passengers at Soekarno-Hatta sought refunds and reclaimed baggage as cancellations grew.
Civil aviation officials said 170 aircraft parked overnight remained on Soekarno-Hatta aprons.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation said it was monitoring the eruption's impact on air travel.
Indonesia's volcanology agency and Darwin VAAC identified two ash clouds on satellite imagery.
Domestic flights to Lampung, Bali and Surabaya were cancelled or diverted.
Laisa warned of cascading disruptions to aircraft rotations, fleet availability and terminal capacity.
Researchers believe the 2018 tsunami came from an underwater landslide after the southwest slope collapsed.
The volcano has been at the second-highest alert status on a four-level scale since then.
Scientists said Anak Krakatau is now only about a quarter of its original size.
Opinion
Civil aviation director Lukman F Laisa said safety remains the top priority in every operational decision.
Indonesia’s Anak Krakatau eruption halts flights, schools and fishing
6 Sep 2026
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Jakarta airport closure extended as Anak Krakatau eruption disrupts flights
6 Sep 2026
Facts
Eight airports in western Indonesia, including Jakarta's main international gateway, will remain closed until Sept. 7.
Purwagandhi said the wind had shifted and was carrying volcanic ash eastwards.
Changi Airport Group said all 33 Singapore-to-Jakarta flights on Sept. 6 had been cancelled as of 6 p.m.
Purwagandhi said BMKG reported the wind blowing east at 5 knots at 15,000 feet.
Scoot cancelled another 12 flights.
Soekarno-Hatta had most recently been scheduled to reopen at 9:30 p.m. local time.
Garuda Indonesia cancelled all flights to and from Soekarno-Hatta up to noon on Sept. 7.
Garuda also cancelled flights to and from Bandung and Radin Inten II in Lampung.
Hundreds of travellers were stranded at Soekarno-Hatta as passengers queued to rebook or get refunds.
Jakarta said schools would switch to remote learning from Sept. 7 until further notice because of volcanic ash.
Singapore Airlines said other flights between Singapore and Indonesia could be affected.
Prabowo said he had been monitoring Anak Krakatau's activity since the eruption began.
Scoot said affected customers could rebook or seek a full refund.
Prabowo said he instructed BMKG, BNPB, the military and ministries to keep monitoring and keep assistance in place.
The remote-learning measure applies to public and private schools across all levels.
Two Jakarta-bound flights from Jeddah and Madinah were diverted to Kertajati.
BMKG said 8 a.m. satellite imagery on Sept. 6 showed two clusters of volcanic ash.
Purwagandhi said tickets for affected flights were refundable and urged airlines to process refunds quickly.
Authorities warned of knock-on effects on aircraft rotations and urged travellers to check with airlines before going to the airport.
Geological Agency head Lana Saria said the direction and spread of ash could change at any time.
Lana Saria said the frequency of eruptions had increased but that did not necessarily mean larger eruptions would follow.
Lana Saria said activity remained volatile and could intensify as low-frequency earthquakes continued.
The Health Ministry activated emergency centres to coordinate the medical response to ash, preparing for respiratory, eye and skin problems.
Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin said the ministry prepared nebulisers, oxygen concentrators, eye drops and ointments.
Lana Saria said the timing, magnitude and type of the next eruptions cannot be exactly predicted.
Suharyanto said BNPB and BMKG could use water mist if rain clouds did not develop over Jakarta, Banten and Lampung.
BNPB has begun distributing basic supplies and masks to affected communities.
Lana Saria said the structure re-formed after 2018 remained relatively small and was not considered capable of collapsing on a tsunami-triggering scale.
Jakarta ended its weekly Car-Free Day an hour early at 9 a.m. on Sept. 6 because of possible ash exposure.
Authorities stepped up precautions for vessels using the Sunda Strait.
BNPB said ferry services between Merak and Bakauheni have not been reported disrupted.
Lana Saria said activity and morphological changes continue to be monitored intensively.
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Jakarta authorities said children are particularly vulnerable to the effects of ash.