Jakarta. Thousands of passengers have been stranded or forced to find alternative routes as volcanic ash from the eruption of Mount Anak Krakatau disrupts flights across Indonesia, with the Transportation Ministry saying about 2,300 flights have been affected since Sept. 5.

The disruption has affected hundreds of thousands of passengers, with travelers facing canceled flights, long waits, refunds, and rescheduling as authorities monitor the movement of the volcanic ash plume.

Seven major airports temporarily closed because of the ash, affecting 1,397 flights and about 177,579 passengers. Changes to flight routes outside the closure zone affected another 922 flights and 92,758 passengers.

The disruption has also caused a ripple effect at airports outside the immediate closure zone, including Juanda International Airport in East Java.

By 9:30 a.m. Monday, 12 flights at Juanda had been canceled, including five arrivals and seven departures. The cancellations were linked to the knock-on effects of closures at several airports, including Soekarno-Hatta, Halim Perdanakusuma, Radin Inten II and Husein Sastranegara.

Muji, a passenger bound for Jakarta, was waiting at Juanda after his flight was canceled. He had been due to attend a meeting in Jakarta and was waiting for information from his airline on whether he could reschedule or obtain a refund.

“My meeting was canceled. I guess I should either get a refund or reschedule,” Muji said.

Other passengers remained in the terminal while waiting for updates from their airlines.

Juanda Airport provided affected passengers with snacks and drinks and deployed airport security, terminal inspectors, and customer service personnel to provide information and assistance.

The disruption has prompted some passengers to abandon air travel altogether and seek alternative routes by land.

At Pasar Senen railway station in Central Jakarta on Monday, passengers who had planned to fly from Soekarno-Hatta were seen switching to long-distance trains.

Hamdan, who was traveling to Gorontalo in northern Sulawesi, said his flight from Soekarno-Hatta failed to depart. He and his group decided to take a train to Surabaya, East Java, before continuing to Gorontalo by air.

“We decided to take the train to Surabaya and then fly from Surabaya to Gorontalo,” Hamdan said.

The change has also increased his travel costs, he said.

Rahmawati and her family faced a similar situation while traveling to Makassar in South Sulawesi. After their flight was canceled, they opted to travel by train to Surabaya and continue to Makassar by plane.

“We looked for another option by taking the train to Surabaya and then flying from Surabaya to Makassar,” she said.

The shift toward rail travel was reflected in passenger numbers recorded by KAI Daop 1 Jakarta, which operates long-distance train services in the capital and surrounding areas.

As of 8 a.m. Monday, 37,389 passengers had arrived at stations across the Daop 1 area, an increase of 18.4% from 31,565 passengers a day earlier.

KAI said 73,772 seats on long-distance trains remained available for travel between Sept. 7 and Sept. 9, while 23,731 passengers were scheduled to depart from stations in the Daop 1 area on Monday.

The disruption has forced other passengers to take similarly lengthy detours.

Bagas, a worker from Sragen in Central Java, said his flight to Japan had been canceled for two consecutive days. He was due to travel to Japan for a job in plastic-molding manufacturing.

His employment placement agency has covered his hotel and meals while he waits for a new departure date.

“I’m just waiting for the company and the placement agency,” Bagas said at Soekarno-Hatta on Monday.

Lalita Hanif, a communications lecturer from Banjarmasin in South Kalimantan, abandoned her flight to Jakarta on Sunday after it was canceled and bought a ticket to Surabaya instead. She then traveled by train toward Jakarta before planning to continue by bus to Bogor.

Lalita, who is also a doctoral student at IPB University and is helping organize an international seminar there, spent the night in Surabaya while waiting for her train.

“I had no choice but to spend the night in Surabaya,” she said.

Indonesian entertainer Ayu Dewi also became stranded in Bangkok after flights to Jakarta were disrupted. She eventually flew to Denpasar, Bali, and planned to continue to Jakarta by land.

“I’m relieved to be back in my own country, but I’m still confused about how to get back to Jakarta,” she said in an Instagram post.

The disruption has also affected airports far from the volcano. At Sultan Aji Muhammad Sulaiman Sepinggan Airport in Balikpapan, East Kalimantan, passengers queued to seek refunds after flights to Jakarta were canceled.

Airport officials said 29 flights — 14 arrivals and 15 departures — were canceled there on Sunday. By Monday morning, several more flights to Jakarta had also been canceled.

Passenger traffic at Sepinggan fell to about 7,000 a day from an average of more than 10,000, a decline of roughly 30%, according to airport management.

The Transportation Ministry has urged airlines to use six alternative airports in Java, including Kertajati International Airport in West Java, Juanda International Airport in East Java and airports in Yogyakarta, Semarang and Solo.

The alternative airports are intended to ease passenger backlogs, although their use will depend on airlines’ operational readiness and available routes.

The ministry urged passengers to check their flight status directly with airlines before traveling to airports as authorities continue to monitor the volcanic ash and assess aviation safety.

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