Over the weekend, Mount Anak Krakatau erupted, leading to extensive flight cancellations and disruptions at Jakarta's Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, the second-busiest airport in Southeast Asia. The eruption began at 11:07 p.m. local time on Friday and lasted for approximately 25 hours, resulting in the suspension of airport operations.
By Sunday morning, at least 373 flights were affected, with 202 flights impacted at Soekarno-Hatta alone, including 167 cancellations. The disruptions continued into Monday, with Singapore Airlines and its budget carrier Scoot canceling multiple flights between Singapore and Jakarta.
The Indonesian meteorological agency reported volcanic ash reaching altitudes of up to 20,000 feet moving east and 50,000 feet moving west, affecting areas as far as the Indian Ocean.
Although the continuous eruption has ended, the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources has indicated that the potential for further eruptions remains high, maintaining the volcano at Level III, or 'Alert,' and enforcing a 3-kilometer exclusion zone around it. This situation poses ongoing challenges for airlines operating in the region and could impact travel plans for many passengers