Yesterday an official warning was given to all airlines warning them to avoid certain routes over Yogyakarta and Central Java as the ash cloud from the errupting Mount Merapi continued to grow, forcing the cancellation of six international flights.
Malaysia-based AirAsia said it had cancelled four flights linking Kuala Lumpur with Yogyakarta and nearby Solo on Tuesday, while SilkAir, the regional carrier of Singapore Airlines, said it had cancelled two flights between Singapore and Solo.
Raden Sukhyar, chief of the geology department at the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, told the Jakarta Globe that monitoring of the volcano had shown no signs of it letting up any time soon.
He said swirling winds were making the situation worse. “Sometimes it’s heading north, west or in another direction; we don’t know for sure if the airport will be affected,” he said.