Flights to Jakarta resume after volcanic ash forced 2-day closure of several Indonesian airports

Flights to and from Indonesia's capital of Jakarta resumed early Tuesday after ash from a volcanic eruption forced a two-day closure that halted nearly 3,000 flights. Soekarno-Hatta International Airport and Halim Perdanakusuma Airport serving Jakarta, Husein Sastranegara Airport in West Java's ...
Flights to and from Indonesia's capital of Jakarta resumed early Tuesday after ash from a volcanic eruption forced a two-day closure that halted nearly 3,000 flights.
Soekarno-Hatta International Airport and Halim Perdanakusuma Airport serving Jakarta, Husein Sastranegara Airport in West Java's Bandung city and two smaller airports in Banten province reopened just after midnight, Indonesia's Transportation Minister Dudy Purwagandhi stated.
Three other airports remained closed until 10 a.m. local time, including Radin Inten II Airport in Lampung on the southern tip of Sumatra island, despite improving conditions at some facilities. Atung Bungsu Airport in Pagar Alam in South Sumatra province had resumed normal operations Monday morning.
In a related development, "We are taking a conservative approach because wind direction is highly dynamic," Purwagandhi expressed in a statement. "We want to ensure that volcanic ash has moved away from airports around Anak Krakatau."
Although tests at multiple airports showed no traces of volcanic ash, the extended closures would allow time for inspecting and cleaning surfaces and equipment like runways, taxiways and aircraft that may have been exposed to volcanic ash, Purwagandhi mentioned.
The continuous eruption of Anak Krakatau with lava fountains and loud booms ended Sunday but the volcanic island remained active Tuesday morning.
The airport closures Sunday and Monday disrupted nearly 2,961 flights, including 622 international services, and affected about 341,000 passengers.
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