Ash clouds from volcanic activity in Ethiopia are drifting towards China and will move away from India by 7.30 pm on Tuesday, the India Meteorological Department said, reported news agency PTI.
Ash plumes from the recent eruption of the Hayli Gubbi volcano in Ethiopia impacted flight operations in India on Monday.
Forecast models indicated ash influence over Gujarat, Delhi-NCR, Rajasthan, Punjab and Haryana on Tuesday, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.
IMD Director General Mrutyunjay Mohapatra said the ash clouds are drifting towards China and will move away from Indian skies by 7.30 pm, reported PTI.
According to the IMD, Hayli Gubbi, a shield volcano in Ethiopia`s Afar region, erupted on Sunday, producing a large ash plume that rose to around 14 km (45,000 ft), reported PTI.
The plume spread eastward across the Red Sea and towards the Arabian Peninsula and the Indian subcontinent.
“High-level winds carried the ash cloud from Ethiopia across the Red Sea to Yemen and Oman and further over the Arabian Sea towards western and northern India,” the IMD said in a statement, reported PTI.
It said the IMD closely monitored satellite imagery, advisories from Volcanic Ash Advisory Centres (VAACs) and dispersion models.
Its Met Watch Offices in Mumbai, New Delhi and Kolkata issued ICAO-standard Significant Meteorological Information (SIGMET) warnings to airports.
These advisories included directions to avoid affected airspace and flight levels identified in the VAAC bulletins.
The IMD said continuous monitoring of MET and ash advisories is used for flight planning, including adjustments to routing and fuel calculations based on alternate paths.
Flights over the region may face rerouting, longer flight times or holding patterns, the Met office added.
Meanwhile, Air India has cancelled at least 11 flights since Monday and is carrying out precautionary checks on those planes that had flown over locations that had ash plumes due to the volcanic activity in Ethiopia.
Air India said it has cancelled four flights on Tuesday — AI 2822 (Chennai-Mumbai), AI 2466 (Hyderabad-Delhi), AI 2444 / 2445 (Mumbai-Hyderabad-Mumbai) and AI 2471 / 2472 (Mumbai-Kolkata-Mumbai).
On Monday, it had cancelled seven international flights, including AI 106 (Newark-Delhi), AI 102 (New York (JFK)-Delhi) and AI 2204 (Dubai-Hyderabad) and AI 2290 (Doha-Mumbai).
Giving the flight details in a post on X on Tuesday, Air India said it is carrying out precautionary checks on those aircraft which had flown over certain geographical locations after the Hayli Gubbi volcanic eruption.
“Our ground teams across the network are keeping passengers updated on their flight status and are providing immediate assistance, including hotel accommodation. We are making every effort to arrange alternative travel at the earliest,” the airline said.
There were no latest updates from IndiGo, Air India Express, SpiceJet and Akasa Air on the situation.
(With inputs from PTI)