All eight Indonesian airports are open again — but Anak Krakatau is still on alert

Update — 16 October 2026: the alert level has been raised again

Indonesia’s Geological Agency raised Anak Krakatau back to Level III (Siaga), the second-highest of four alert levels, from 9pm local time on 9 October after a series of eruptions. People must stay at least 5 km from the crater. We have found no report of new airport closures since then, but ash can disrupt Jakarta-area flights at short notice, so check your airline’s app on the day you fly. (MAGMA Indonesia; Katadata, 10 October)

Our 25 September update below, which reported the lowering to Level II, is kept as published; it was correct at the time.

Update — 25 September 2026: the alert level has been lowered

Indonesia’s Geological Agency (Badan Geologi) lowered Anak Krakatau from Level III (Siaga) to Level II (Waspada), the second of four alert levels, from 18:30 WIB on Monday 21 September 2026. The agency’s head, Lana Saria, said activity had been declining since the 25-hour continuous eruption of 4–6 September, CNN Indonesia and CNBC Indonesia reported. Visitors, tourists and climbers must still keep out of a 2 km radius around the crater — down from 3 km — and stay alert to ejected hot rocks and heavy ash. MAGMA Indonesia, the agency’s monitoring service, now lists the volcano at Level II.

We have found no report of a further airport closure since the eight airports shut by the ash reopened on 8 September. Level II still means an active volcano, so if you are flying to or from Jakarta or Bali, check your flight status on the day as you would in any eruption season. The earlier reports below are kept unchanged, including their references to Level III, which was correct when they were written.

Where this stands on 12 September

All eight airports closed by volcanic ash reopened on Tuesday 8 September, and Jakarta has been operating normally since. Indonesia’s meteorology agency BMKG declared the eight clear of ash after paper tests at 06:00 that morning; its chairperson, Teuku Faisal Fathani, said the results were negative for volcanic ash exposure at all eight.

Soekarno-Hatta resumed first at 00:30, followed by Halim Perdanakusuma at 00:40 and Husein Sastranegara at 00:42, then Budiarto at 01:25, Pondok Cabe at 01:28, and Taufiq Kiemas, Radin Inten II and Salakanegara through the morning. Soekarno-Hatta was scheduled for 896 movements and about 113,000 passengers on its first day back. The government put the final toll of the closure at 2,961 flights delayed, diverted or cancelled and roughly 341,000 passengers affected.

The volcano itself has not stood down. Anak Krakatau remains at alert level three of four with a three-kilometre exclusion zone, and on 11 September the geology agency’s acting head, Berton SP Panjaitan, said the probability of an eruption in the coming period remains high. Fourteen episodic eruptions had been recorded by that morning. Flights are normal; the risk of a repeat is not zero.

Foreign nationals stranded by the closure were given relief: the Directorate General of Immigration granted forced-circumstances stay permits, valid up to 30 days, and waived overstay fines for travellers caught by the 5–7 September cancellations, on production of a letter from the airline, the airport or the civil aviation authority.

What changed on Sunday night — the original report

Indonesia’s earlier closure of six airports was lifted during Sunday, and then overtaken. In a media briefing reported by the state news agency ANTARA at 22:42 local time on 6 September, Transport Minister Dudy Purwagandhi confirmed that eight airports are now closed because of volcanic ash from Mount Anak Krakatau, with no reopening time set.

The eight are Soekarno-Hatta International at Tangerang, Halim Perdanakusuma in Jakarta, Radin Inten II in Lampung, Husein Sastranegara at Bandung, Budiarto at Curug, Pondok Cabe in South Tangerang, Taufik Kiemas in Pesisir Barat and Atung Bungsu at Pagar Alam. That takes in both of the capital’s airports and the main field for West Java.

The minister set no deadline. "Reopening will only occur once we can fully guarantee safe atmospheric conditions," he said, and the agency reports the closure as indefinite and dependent on how the ash disperses.

The reopening did not hold

This is the third turn in a story that has moved twice already in a single day, and the sequence matters more than any one figure. We reported the eruption and the first Jakarta suspension on Sunday morning, then the reopening after 764 flights were hit in the afternoon. That reopening has now been reversed and the closure widened.

Earlier in the day, while six airports were shut, the government had readied Kertajati in Majalengka, Ahmad Yani in Semarang and Juanda in Surabaya as alternates; 42 flights were cancelled at Juanda. Those alternates are now carrying a bigger load.

The practical lesson for anyone with a booking is that "reopened" has not meant "resolved" at any point in this eruption. Treat each reopening as provisional while the volcano is still at an elevated alert level and the ash is still moving with the wind.

If you are trying to leave Jakarta

Flights are being diverted to Kertajati, and the government has arranged onward transport from there. Cabinet Secretary Teddy Indra Wijaya said on Sunday that bus and Whoosh high-speed rail services would be prepared from Kertajati to Jakarta. PT Kereta Api Indonesia has also added trains to Jakarta from Surabaya, Malang, Semarang and Yogyakarta.

No journey times, frequencies or station details were published with those arrangements, so treat them as capacity being added rather than a timetable you can plan against. If you are already in Java and need to move, the rail network is the part of this that is still working.

Bali is not among the eight closed airports; we set out what the eruption meant for Bali services in our first report, and that position was last confirmed at 14:03 on 6 September, before this escalation.

Refunds, and why the advisories lag

The transport ministry has pressed airlines on passenger rights throughout, and the minister repeated in the same briefing that refund entitlements must be honoured without delay. If your flight is cancelled, that is the ground to stand on.

A word on official advisories. Government travel advice is written at a moment in time, and this story has moved three times in a day. The UK Foreign Office page for Indonesia, updated on 6 September, described the two Jakarta airports as having closed on 5 September and then reopened, with continued disruption — accurate for the earlier phase, and written before the eight-airport announcement that evening. Read advisories for the standing risk picture, and your airline and airport for what is happening now. Our Indonesia destination pages cover the wider region.

Sources

This report is based on the following published sources. Rules and schedules change — confirm with the issuing authority before you travel.

• Mount Anak Krakatau eruption grounds eight Indonesian airports — ANTARA News, 06 September 2026
• Volcanic ash diverts flights to Kertajati, travel continues by Whoosh — ANTARA News, 06 September 2026
• Govt readies alternative airports as six closed over volcanic ash — ANTARA News, 06 September 2026
• Indonesia travel advice: warnings and insurance — UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, 06 September 2026
• BMKG declares eight reopened airports safe from volcanic ash — ANTARA News, 08 September 2026
• Indonesia airports reopen after volcanic ash disrupts thousands of flights — Al Jazeera / Reuters, 08 September 2026
• Anak Krakatau remains on alert as eruption risk stays high — ANTARA News, 11 September 2026
• Foreign nationals affected by eruption granted immigration waivers — Bali Discovery, 09 September 2026
• Gunung Anak Krakatau turun level dari Siaga ke Waspada — CNN Indonesia, 21 September 2026
• Status Gunung Api Anak Krakatau resmi turun jadi Level II atau Waspada — CNBC Indonesia, 21 September 2026
• Tingkat aktivitas gunung api (volcano activity levels, read 25 September 2026) — MAGMA Indonesia (Badan Geologi), 25 September 2026
• Status Gunung Anak Krakatau Naik Lagi ke Level Siaga — Katadata, 10 October 2026
• Waspada! Dini Hari Ini Gunung Anak Krakatau Kembali Erupsi (Sabtu, 17 Oktober 2026) — Katadata (Databoks), 17 October 2026