BMKG Confirms No Volcanic Ash at Four Airports

RRI.CO.ID, Jakarta - Indonesia’s Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysical Agency (BMKG) has confirmed that monitoring results showed no volcanic ash at four airports affected by the eruption of Anak Krakatau volcano. However, the government is continuing to monitor and evaluate conditions before deciding whether to resume airport operations.

The four airports are Soekarno-Hatta and Budiarto airports in Banten, Halim Perdanakusuma Airport in Jakarta, and Husein Sastranegara Airport in Bandung, West Java. The results were obtained through paper tests to detect the presence of volcanic ash at the airports.

BMKG Head, Teuku Faisal Fathani, said that at Soekarno-Hatta Airport, in particular, paper tests had returned negative results four consecutive times. This indicates that no volcanic ash particles were detected at the international airport based on the tests.

“There are four airports where paper test monitoring has shown negative results: Soekarno-Hatta, Halim Perdanakusuma, Husein Sastranegara, and Budiarto in Curug. At Soekarno-Hatta, the paper test has returned negative results four times in a row, meaning that no volcanic ash has been detected through the test,” Teuku said at a limited meeting on disaster management in Jakarta, Monday, September 7, 2026.

Teuku said the monitoring results would continue to be communicated with relevant authorities, including the Volcanic Ash Advisory Center (VAAC) in Darwin, Australia, to support the restoration of the Significant Meteorological Information (SIGMET) aviation safety warning.

He added that the paper test results could serve as a reference for the Ministry of Transportation and airport authorities in considering the gradual resumption of operations at the four airports.

Meanwhile, Minister of Transportation, Dudy Purwagandhi said the government was not rushing to reopen Soekarno-Hatta Airport despite the negative paper test results. The government remains alert to the possibility of changes in wind direction that could carry volcanic ash back toward the airport.

“We will continue conducting paper tests to determine how far volcanic ash can still be detected on the surface,” Dudy explained.