PUTRAJAYA: Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) has urged passengers bound for Jakarta on affected flights to contact their airlines for the latest schedule information, after volcanic ash from Anak Krakatau forced the temporary closure of Soekarno-Hatta International Airport.
In a travel advisory, KLIA confirmed the ash-related closure and added via social media that resting areas have been set up for affected passengers awaiting further news.
“At Terminal 1, the designated resting areas are at Anjung Tinjau, Level 5 of the Main Terminal Building; the CRS Area, Level 3 of the Main Terminal Building; and Gate C36, Mezzanine Level of the Satellite Building.
“At Terminal 2, the resting area is located at Level 3A (Mezzanine Floor), Departure Hall,” it said.
Anak Krakatau, situated in the Sunda Strait between Java and Sumatra, continued its eruption on Saturday, with authorities reporting lava-fountaining activity and audible booming and rumbling sounds from an observation post.
The eruption began at 11.07 pm local time on Friday and persisted throughout observations from midnight to 6 am on Saturday.
Indonesia’s Centre for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation said the volcano remains at Level III, or Siaga (Alert), with a three-kilometre exclusion zone in place around its active crater.
Authorities added that the volcano’s regrown edifice is relatively small and is not considered capable of collapsing on a scale that could generate a tsunami. – BERNAMA
