Jakarta Airports Reopen After Anak Krakatau Ash Closure, But Volcano Erupts Three More Times Tuesday Morning

Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Jakarta and four other Indonesian airports reopened just after midnight on Tuesday, September 8, 2026, following a closure caused by volcanic ash from Mount Anak Krakatau, Indonesian Transport Minister Dudy Purwagandhi announced. The other reopened airports include Halim Perdanakusuma Airport, Bandung's Husein Sastranegara Airport, and two smaller airports in Banten province. Firefighters and firetrucks were deployed to clear runways and operational facilities of ash before aircraft were permitted to operate.

Anak Krakatau erupted three more times on Tuesday morning alone, according to Lana Saria, head of Indonesia's national Geology Agency. "So far, the impact is not as big as the previous eruptions, but we'll continue to monitor," Saria told Reuters. The volcano remains at Level 3 alert — the second-highest category in Indonesia's four-tier volcanic warning system — with a 3-kilometre exclusion zone still in place. Mount Ibu and Ili Lewotolok, both on islands east of Java, also erupted on Tuesday.

Indonesian aviation authorities ordered mandatory airworthiness inspections of all 178 aircraft that had been grounded at Soekarno-Hatta during the closure, as volcanic ash can damage engines, clog air intakes, contaminate fuel systems, and degrade avionics. Purwagandhi said it may take "a bit" longer for flight schedules to return to normal and asked for "a little patience from passengers and the public."

Emirates suspended flights to and from Jakarta on September 8, cancelling flight EK356 from Dubai to Jakarta, and EK357 and EK359 from Jakarta to Dubai. Qatar Airways also cancelled flight QR959 on September 8 due to volcanic ash affecting parts of the regional airspace. Singapore Airlines mounted eight additional relief flights between Singapore and Jakarta on September 8, subject to seat availability, while Malaysia Airlines said it was gradually resuming services on a route-by-route basis. Since disruptions began on September 5, a cumulative total of 2,961 flights have been delayed, diverted, or cancelled, affecting approximately 341,000 passengers.

Ash closures near active volcanoes put airports and airlines on different clocks: a runway can reopen once ash is physically cleared, but each grounded aircraft still needs an engine, intake, fuel-system and avionics check before it flies again, which is why Indonesian authorities ordered inspections across all 178 aircraft held at Soekarno-Hatta rather than treating the reopening as the end of the disruption.

The segment's response also shows how carriers price the same hazard differently. Emirates and Qatar Airways pulled flights outright, while Singapore Airlines added relief capacity and Malaysia Airlines resumed route by route — a spread that reflects each carrier's own read of ash concentration on its specific corridors rather than a single regional verdict on Jakarta's airspace.

With Anak Krakatau still at Level 3 alert and a 3-kilometre exclusion zone in force, and two other volcanoes erupting the same day, the near-term signal to watch is whether the Geology Agency downgrades the alert level or whether further eruptions extend the inspection backlog and keep the cumulative delay, diversion and cancellation count climbing past its current 2,961 flights.