Indonesian airports closed due to eruptions at 2 volcanoes

Thousands of tourists were left stranded at the island’s Ngurah Rai airport and nearly 900 flights were cancelled or delayed, according to airport officials. Flag carrier Garuda said it had cancelled 48 flights to and from Surabaya, but it was not immediately clear how many flights in total were axed at the airport.

Passengers queue at airlines’ counters as their flights are delayed… Thousands of tired travellers packed out the airport terminals, with long lines forming at ticket counters and people sitting and sleeping on the floor.

“It was shut down at 10 a.m. after Mount Gamalama erupted”, transport ministry spokesman J.A. Barata said.

Last week the airport on the tourist island of Bali was closed because of an eruption by Mount Raung.

SURABAYA – Ash spewing from an erupting volcano closed the airport serving Indonesia’s second-biggest city on Thursday, as millions of people were travelling across the archipelago ahead of the Muslim holiday of Eid.

FILE – In this Sunday, July 12, 2015 file photo, a ferry boat…

The domestic airport serving the city of Malang on Java was also closed by ash from Mount Raung, while another erupting volcano forced the closure of the airport on the remote, eastern island of Ternate, the transport ministry said.

Disaster agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said that Mount Raung was hurling thick smoke up to 2,000 metres into the air on Thursday.

Surabaya, the provincial capital of East Java, is Indonesia’s second-largest city after the capital Jakarta.

Two other airports have remained closed since last week – Banyuwangi and Jember near Raung.

The ministry said Sultan Babullah airport in Ternate, North Maluku’s province capital, was closed after Gamalama sent volcanic ash as high as 1,500 meters (4,920 feet) into the sky.

Thousands of holiday-makers were stranded because of the shutdown of the global airport serving Surabaya, on the main island of Java.

A 2010 eruption of Iceland’s Eyjafjallajokul volcano produced an ash cloud that caused a week of global aviation chaos, with more than 100,000 flights canceled.

It could then turn into a kind of molten glass that coats the inside of engines and affects fuel flow, which can cause engines to shut off.

In recent days, people across the vast archipelago have taken to planes, boats and cars to head to their home towns and villages to celebrate Eid, which marks the end of the fasting month of Ramadhan and falls on Friday.