AirNav Monitors Anak Krakatau Activity, Prepares Flight Rerouting - Tempo.co English
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - AirNav Indonesia continues to monitor Mount Anak Krakatau 24/7 to anticipate the potential impact of an eruption on flight safety and efficiency. The monitoring is carried out in collaboration with the Center for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation (PVMBG) and the Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG).
"Monitoring is conducted for the volcano eruption activity, wind direction, and the possibility of volcanic material spreading that could affect flight routes," said Nurcahyo Utomo, the Director of Safety, Security, and Standardization at AirNav Indonesia in Tangerang, on Friday, September 11, 2026.
He stated that, if necessary, AirNav would update information and adjust flight routes to avoid areas affected by volcanic activity.
Nurcahyo stated that the steps taken so far involve rerouting or redirecting flight paths to avoid crossing potentially affected areas. He noted that the current wind direction is moving away from Soekarno-Hatta Airport. It is hoped that this will not disrupt flight operations again.
"If there is no significant information, usually within six hours. But if suddenly there is something impactful, it might be updated in an hour," he said.
Nurcahyo emphasized that rerouting does not mean flights have to make extreme route changes. Aircraft are only directed slightly away from the affected areas. "For example, if a flight from Jakarta to Palembang were to pass through Tanjung Karang, it would need to veer slightly north. Not too far," he added.
Currently, according to Nurcahyo, domestic flight routes in Indonesia are not directly affected by the eruption zone. The potential impact would be greater for international flights passing through the area, including those from Australia to the Middle East.
In addition to monitoring Mount Anak Krakatau activity, AirNav Indonesia is also regulating flight traffic to anticipate congestion after flight operations resume.
Nurcahyo explained that AirNav in the Soekarno-Hatta airspace has a capacity of up to 81 flights per hour. Special arrangements are made during the first two hours after operations resume to reduce congestion of aircraft in the airport parking area. "Because the parking area is full. If we prioritize incoming flights, there will be no parking space. So we prioritize clearing the parking area first, then accept incoming flights," he explained.
In the first two hours after the resumption, AirNav regulated as many as 61 flights departing from Jakarta and 20 incoming flights. "After the situation is back under control, the subsequent flight traffic will follow the normal pattern with a capacity of up to 81 flights per hour," said Nurcahyo.
The eruption of Anak Krakatau volcano led to the cancellation of thousands of flights on September 6-7, 2026. No flights operated because Soekarno-Hatta Airport and several other airports were temporarily closed due to volcanic ash from Mount Anak Krakatau.
