Today's Edition
New Delhi (dpa)
Several domestic and international flights in India were cancelled or rerouted on Tuesday after the eruption of a long-dormant volcano in Ethiopia sent ash plumes into the atmosphere that drifted across parts of India's airspace.
Most of the flights affected were at Delhi Airport and included arrivals and departures. At least seven international flights were cancelled and 10 were delayed on Tuesday, the PTI news agency reported, citing an airport official.
Air India has cancelled at least 11 flights since Monday after India's aviation regulator issued an advisory to avoid routes affected by the volcanic ash. The airline said in an X post that it was carrying out inspections of aircraft that had flown through airspace that may have been impacted.
Airlines have been asked to report suspected ash encounters, engine performance anomalies and cabin smoke or odour.
India's Meteorological Department said the ash cloud was observed at a height of around 10 kilometres and was drifting eastwards towards China. It is expected to exit Indian airspace by 7:30 pm (1400 GMT), a department official said.
The Hayli Gubbi volcano in Ethiopia erupted on Sunday for the first time in thousands of years. Plumes of ash drifted eastward across the Arabian Peninsula towards Pakistan.
By Monday night, the eruption had stopped and the volcanic ash cloud was detected over northern India moving quickly towards China, an advisory from the Toulouse Volcanic Ash Advisory Center said.
