Jakarta airport reopens after volcano ash chaos

Jakarta's main airport and four other Indonesian airports have reopened following a series of volcanic ash eruptions from Mount Anak Krakatau, according to transport minister Dudy Purwagandhi. The ash from the volcano, located between Java and Sumatra, had blanketed the city and surrounding areas since an initial eruption late Friday, leading to the closure of eight airports for safety concerns and impacting over 340,000 travelers.

Soekarno-Hatta Airport, Jakarta's primary hub, resumed operations on Tuesday as winds cleared the ash from its surroundings. Four additional airports, including a smaller one in Jakarta and another in Bandung, also reopened their gates. However, two airports remain closed.

Authorities are still assessing the airworthiness of the 178 planes that were stranded during the closure, and it may take some additional time to prepare them for safe takeoff, Purwagandhi stated. Around 341,000 people have been affected by flight delays, diversions, or cancellations across the eight closed airports, with 2,961 flights affected in total, Chief Infrastructure Minister Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono reported on Monday.

Anak Krakatau, one of about 130 active volcanoes in Indonesia, sits in the Pacific Ring of Fire, a highly seismically active zone where tectonic plates meet, causing frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. The volcano, known as "child of Krakatau," emerged from the site of a previous eruption of Krakatoa in the late 19th century. The older volcano erupted in 1883, causing massive destruction and claiming over 36,000 lives due to tsunamis triggered by the disaster.