Merapi forces flight cancellations

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http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia-pacific/2010/11/201011614253455127.html

Merapi forces flight cancellations

Several carriers stop flying into the Indonesian capital as volcano in central

Java continues erupting and spewing gas.

Last Modified: 06 Nov 2010 16:41 GMT

Nearly a dozen airlines have cancelled flights into Indonesia's main

international airport after a volcano in central Java unleashed its most

powerful eruption in a century.

The move comes amid concerns that Merapi, about 450km to the west of the

Indonesian capital, Jakarta, may erupt again.

Flights to cities closer to Merapi - including Yogyakarta, Solo and Bandung -

have also been affected.

The flight cancellations also came just days before Barack Obama, the US

president, was due to visit Indonesia.

" Thirty-six flights to and from Jakarta from 11 airlines have been cancelled

today. I think it's for safety reasons due to the volcanic ash from Merapi, "

Sudaryanto, a spokesman for Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, said.

" Safety is good, but actually the ash hasn't reached Jakarta. "

Threatening ash

Sudaryanto listed the airlines that cancelled their flights as Singapore

Airlines, Air Asia, Emirates, Malaysia Airlines, JAL, Turkish Airlines,

Lufthansa, China Airlines, Korean Air, Tiger Air and the local airline Mandala.

Separately, Cathay Pacific said on its website that flights to and from Jakarta

had been delayed and would depart on Sunday, " if conditions improve " .

The eruption of Iceland's Eyjafjallajokul volcano in April forced the closure of

most European airports for a week and led to the cancellation of over 100,000

flights.

" The volcanic ash presence in the airways surrounding Jakarta could cause severe

damage to our aircraft and engines which could impair the safety of our

operations including passengers and crew, " Azharuddin Osman, director of

operations for Malaysia Airlines, said.

Merapi, Indonesia's most volatile mountain, has killed close to 140 people in

the last two weeks.

More than 200 others were injured with various degrees of burns, respiratory

problems, broken bones and cuts.

Merapi unleashed on Friday a surge of searing gas, rocks and debris that raced

down its slopes at highway speeds, mowing down villages and leaving a trail of

charred corpses in its path.

Thousands of Indonesians were desperately trying to leave the area surrounding

Merapi as officials began preparations to hold mass burials for victims.

Mass evacuations

The Indonesian government has expanded a " danger zone " to a ring 20km from the

peak, bringing it to the edge of the ancient royal capital of Yogyakarta, which

has been put on its highest alert.

The biggest threat, however, is the Code river, which flows into the city of

400,000 from Mount Merapi, and could act as a conduit for deadly volcanic

mudflows that form in heavy rains.

More than 166,000 people were evacuated after everyone living within the

declared " danger zone " had been told to leave their homes immediately, though

some were reluctant to abandon their livestock.

Racing at speeds of 100km per hour, the molten lava, rocks and other debris can

destroy everything in their path.

Merapi's latest round of eruptions began on October 26, followed by more than a

dozen other powerful blasts and thousands of tremors.

Scientists and officials have steadily pushed the villagers who live along

Merapi's slopes farther from the crater with each new eruption.

Friday's eruption released 50 million cubic metres of volcanic material, with

plumes of smoke shooting up more than 10,000 metres, which makes it " the biggest

in at least a century " at Merapi, Gede Swantika, a state volcanologist, said.

Merapi killed around 1,300 people in 1930 but experts say the current eruptions

are its biggest convulsions since 1872.

Indonesia, an archipelago of 235 million people, is prone to earthquakes and

volcanoes because it sits along the so-called Ring of Fire, a horseshoe-shaped

string of faults that lines the Pacific Ocean.