Babullah airport in Ternate, North Maluku, reopened on Saturday and has resumed operations after being closed since Monday due to the Gamalama volcano eruption.

“We have received a recommendation from the Volcanic and Geological Disaster Mitigation Center (PVMBG) to reopen the Babullah airport,” airport chief Taslim Badaruddin said in Ternate, as quoted by Antara news agency.

Babullah airport management cleared the airport’s runway of volcanic ash on Friday.

Taslim said that the reopening had been reported to all national airports.

"However, we are not sure if there will be any flights to Ternate today,” he said.

Taslim acknowledged that the airport had suffered losses due to the eruption.

“There are usually around 700 people flying out of Ternate every day, each paying Rp 11,000 (US$1.22) for airport tax,” he said.