As Ethiopian volcanic ash drifts towards India, Mumbai flyers say they trust airlines

Air India, IndiGo, Akasa Air, and KLM cancelled and delayed some of their flights operating on specific routes to avoid any untoward incidents. PIC/Madhulika Ram Kavattur

The eruption of the Hayli Gubbi volcano in Ethiopia on Sunday led to ash entering India by Monday night. Following this, the Indian Aviation regulatory body, Directorate General of Civil Aviation, issued an advisory to Indian flight operators.

Along with the advisory, they also issued an ASHTAM, a notice to airmen, specifically about volcanic activity and volcanic ash present in the atmosphere.

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Air India, IndiGo, Akasa Air, and KLM have cancelled and delayed some of their flights operating on specific routes to avoid any untoward incidents.

Air India, on its official X handle said it has cancelled a few flights amid "precautionary checks" on aircraft that have flown over geographical locations affected by the Hayli Gubbi volcanic eruption.

From Mumbai, the flights bound for Doha, Dammam, Chennai, Hyderabad, and Kolkata have been cancelled, while those to Jedda and the UAE have been delayed.

Passengers trust their airlines' judgement

Sarang Sharma, who is travelling with his parents, said, "I am flying by Air India today, and I believe that if they thought that flying today would be unsafe, they would have cancelled our flight too. It is a 70-30 per cent bet that we take."

"We got no message or saw anything negative on social media, which has kept us confident that the conditions for flying are safe," added Sharma, who is flying to Indore.

mid-day.com also spoke to a travel agency which books trips for Hajj pilgrims to Saudi Arabia.

"The airlines are pretty confident that there will not be any bad effects; we have had no cancellations or delays in the flights which we booked for our clients. Had there been any serious issue on the flight route, the airlines themselves would have cancelled or delayed the flights," said an employee of the travel agency, without revealing their identity.

Dangers of flying in such a situation

Volcanic ash in the air leads to low and poor visibility during flights. Visibility at Mumbai airport at 6.30 pm on Tuesday was 1.8 kilometres. Along with poor visibility, the ash damages aircraft's engines, contaminates airfields, and makes flight during bad weather, including conditions involving volcanic ash, dangerous.

The Indian Meteorological Department on Tuesday said that the ash clouds will move north, and move away from India by 7.30 am on Wednesday.