SIA, Scoot cancel flights to and from Jakarta due to Mount Anak Krakatau eruption
The suspension has affected 301 flights, including 58 international flights
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[JAKARTA] An eruption of Indonesia’s Mount Anak Krakatau caused five airports to suspend flight operations on Sunday (Sep 6), affecting hundreds of flights at Jakarta’s main airport, after some school activities and fishing were halted.
Soekarno-Hatta International Airport suspended flight operations further until 5.30 pm local time (6.30pm in Singapore) due to volcanic ash, stranding hundreds of passengers at the facility.
The suspension has affected 301 flights, including 58 international flights, airport operator Angkasa Pura said in a statement.
Anak Krakatau has erupted since late on Friday, with volcanic ash detected at the airport early on Sunday, the ministry said in a statement.
Singapore Airlines flights were among those affected. SIA said in an update at 11.30 am on Sunday that 19 flights have been cancelled. This includes two flights which had been earlier retimed.
Two flights on Saturday, one departing from Singapore to Jakarta and the other, departing Jakarta for Singapore, were cancelled, Singapore’s national carrier said in an advisory that day.
These are the 19 affected SIA flights (all times local):
- SQ950 departing Singapore for Jakarta on Sept 6 at 6.20 am
- SQ952 departing Singapore for Jakarta on Sept 6 at 7.40 am
- SQ956 departing Singapore for Jakarta on Sept 6 at 9.05 am
- SQ953 departing Jakarta for Singapore on Sept 6 at 8.05 am
- SQ955 departing Jakarta for Singapore on Sept 6 at 9.25 am
- SQ957 departing Jakarta for Singapore on Sept 6 at 11 am
- SQ958 departing Singapore for Jakarta on Sept 6 at 12.35 pm
- SQ968D departing Singapore for Jakarta on Sept 6 at 1.55 pm
- SQ960 departing Singapore for Jakarta on Sept 6 at 3.10 pm
- SQ959 departing Jakarta for Singapore on Sept 6 at 2.20 pm
- SQ962 departing Singapore for Jakarta on Sept 6 at 4.15 pm
- SQ951D departing Jakarta for Singapore on Sept 6 at 3.50 pm
- SQ964 departing Singapore for Jakarta on Sept 6 at 5.20 pm
- SQ961 departing Jakarta for Singapore on Sept 6 at 5 pm
- SQ966 departing Singapore for Jakarta on Sept 6 at 6.30 pm
- SQ963 departing Jakarta for Singapore on Sept 6 at 6.05 pm
- SQ965 departing Jakarta for Singapore on Sept 6 at 7.20 pm
- SQ967 departing Jakarta for Singapore on Sept 6 at 8.15 pm
- SQ968D departing Singapore for Jakarta on Sept 6 at 9.55 pm
Noting that the situation remains fluid, SIA said its other flights between Singapore and Indonesia may be affected. The latest flight information can be found on its flight status page, it said.
SIA’s budget arm Scoot cancelled 12 flights on Sunday, according to its website at noon.
The cancelled Scoot flights are:
- TR274, originally scheduled to depart Singapore for Jakarta at 7.50 am
- TR275, originally scheduled to depart Jakarta for Singapore at 9.35 am
- TR276, originally scheduled to depart Singapore for Jakarta at 10 am
- TR277, originally scheduled to depart Jakarta for Singapore at 11.55 am
- TR308, originally scheduled to depart Singapore for Jakarta at 11.35 am
- TR309, originally scheduled to depart Jakarta for Singapore at 2.15 pm
- TR272D that was initially retimed to depart Singapore for Jakarta at 8.25 pm
- TR273D that was initially retimed to depart Jakarta for Singapore at 2.50 pm
- TR278, originally scheduled to depart Singapore for Jakarta at 6.15 pm
- TR279, originally scheduled to depart Jakarta for Singapore at 8 pm
- TR272, originally scheduled to depart Singapore for Jakarta at 8.30 pm
- TR273, originally scheduled to depart Jakarta for Singapore at 10.15 pm
Other carriers, such as Batik Air, TransNusa, Citilink and Garuda Indonesia, cancelled some of their early flights, but still have later departures scheduled for the day.
Changi Airport said in a Facebook post at about 11.05 am on Sunday that due to volcanic activity at Mount Anak Krakatau, flights to and from Jakarta are affected.
It advised travellers to check with their respective airlines for updates and advice.
Ash was identified as high as 6,000 m on the Java side of the volcano and a plume of up to 15,000 m on the Sumatra side and some parts of Banten province in Java, the meteorological agency BMKG posted on its website.
Anak Krakatau is roughly halfway between Java and Sumatra in Indonesia’s vast island chain, which sits on the Pacific “Ring of Fire”, where earthquakes and volcanic eruptions are frequent.
Dispersal of volcanic ash has disrupted activities in Lampung province in Indonesia’s Sumatra island and Banten province on Java, said Berton Panjaitan, a spokesperson for Indonesia’s disaster mitigation agency, BNPB.
“BNPB urges the public to remain calm while increasing vigilance. In the event of ashfall, people are advised to wear masks and eye protection, reduce outdoor activities, cover water sources and exercise caution when driving, as volcanic ash can reduce visibility,” he said.
Several schools cancelled activities on Sunday, with students and residents suffering eye irritation from the ash, while fishermen cancelled their fishing trips due to the eruption, local media outlet Kompas reported.
The disaster mitigation agency said on Saturday there was no imminent risk of tsunami from the volcano.
A tsunami in 2018 caused by Anak Krakatau eruptions killed hundreds and injured hundreds more on Java and Sumatra.
Anak Krakatau, which means child of Krakatau, emerged a century ago from the area once occupied by Krakatau, then known as Krakatoa. Krakatoa was destroyed in 1883, when its massive eruptions killed more than 36,000 people in a series of tsunamis. REUTERS
- Additional reporting by The Straits Times
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