Airport Closures After Mt Kelud Eruption

Last updated: February 14, 2014

Volcanic ash spreads across Java, severely disrupting flight schedules.

A large eruption at Mt Kelud has blanketed Central and East Java in volcanic ash.

View Mt Kelud and nearby airports in a larger map

At the time of writing, the following airports are closed: Yogyakarta, Semarang, Solo, Surabaya & Malang. Bandung Airport is operating on a “reduced” schedule.

Some international flights between Australia and Indonesia have been cancelled, including to Bali; those already on their way to Indonesia returned.

By contrast, trains are operating as normal. Train drivers have discretion to travel more slowly through ash-affected areas, if required.

How to check your flight
Airport Twitter feeds aren’t much good if you don’t speak Indonesian. Fortunately, almost all the affected airports now have websites with official flight status information:

Juanda Airport, Surabaya | Ngurah Rai Airport, Bali
Adi Sucipto Airport, Yogyakarta | Adi Sumarmo Airport, Solo
Husein Sastranegara Airport, Bandung | Achmad Yani Airport, Semarang

The relatively small Abdul Rachman Saleh Airport in Malang seems to have missed out; the FlightStats page for Malang Airport is the next best thing.

Clearly, no Kal-Star flight from Surabaya to Pangkalan Bun today…

Any Mau Ke Mana clients concerned about their flight are advised to ensure they have provided emergency contact details.

A Historical Perspective
This is not the first time volcanic ash has disturbed flights over Indonesia. Disaster was narrowly avoided on a British Airways flight in 1982, an event now better known as The Jakarta Incident.

6 Comments on “Airport Closures After Mt Kelud Eruption”

1. Chris says:

   February 15, 2014 at 12:24 pm

   Update: 15 February 2014

   Semarang – OPEN
   Malang – OPEN
   Surabaya – CLOSED, may open shortly
   Bandung – CLOSED, may open shortly
   Yogyakarta – CLOSED, expected to open Tuesday 18 February
   Solo – CLOSED, expected to open Monday 17 February

2. Dian says:

   February 16, 2014 at 1:18 am

   Hi,
   So Macam mana ni ya.. me and family planning to jarkata-bandung this coming monday (17/feb)..will be dapart at jakarta on 17 feb..and schedule back to malaysia from airport bandung on 21st feb..
   im afraid if i go there (jakarta) this monday, i will be stuck at bandung due to the valcano..
   chris pls help me,any good news there?

3. Chris says:

   February 16, 2014 at 4:29 am

   Update: 16 February 2014

   Semarang – OPEN
   Malang – OPEN
   Surabaya – OPEN
   Bandung – CLOSED, may open shortly
   Yogyakarta – CLOSED, expected to open Tuesday 18 February
   Solo – CLOSED, expected to open Monday 17 February

4. Chris says:

   February 16, 2014 at 5:02 am

   Hi Dian,

   You have nothing to fear.

   Jakarta Airport remains open and Bandung Airport will re-open shortly.

   No further large eruptions of Mt Kelud are expected in the near future.

5. Chris says:

   February 17, 2014 at 7:59 am

   Update: 17 February 2014

   Semarang, Malang, Surabaya, Bandung – OPEN

   Yogyakarta, Solo – CLOSED, expected to open 07:00 Tuesday 18 February

6. Chris says:

   February 19, 2014 at 1:23 pm

   Update: 19 February 2014

   All airports have now re-opened. Yogyakarta Airport was the last, opening today.