A plume of volcanic ash from Ethiopia’s Hayli Gubbi eruption moved across western and northern India on Tuesday, prompting aviation authorities to adjust select flight paths while keeping overall air traffic operations running smoothly. According to the Ministry of Civil Aviation, the disruptions were minimal and precautionary, with only a handful of aircraft rerouted or instructed to descend to safer altitudes. Officials emphasised that there was no broader threat to passenger safety and that extensive coordination was underway with Air Traffic Control (ATC), the India Meteorological Department (IMD), airlines and global aviation bodies.
A NOTAM was issued by the Airports Authority of India to alert pilots to the presence of high-altitude ash, and all airlines were informed in advance. The ministry reiterated that the situation remained under control and that monitoring mechanisms had been intensified to track the movement of the ash cloud. The advisory reassured travellers that all major airports across the country were operating normally.
IMD Director General Mrutyunjay Mohapatra confirmed that ash from the Hayli Gubbi shield volcano, which erupted on Sunday in Ethiopia’s Afar region, had been carried thousands of kilometres by powerful high-level winds. The eruption generated a plume that reached nearly 14 kilometres into the atmosphere, and upper-air circulation transported the ash over the Red Sea, Yemen, Oman and the Arabian Sea before it drifted into parts of Gujarat, Rajasthan, Delhi–NCR, Punjab and Haryana. Mohapatra noted that the cloud was moving eastward towards China and that Indian airspace was expected to clear by early evening, around 7:30 pm.
The IMD’s Met Watch offices in Mumbai, New Delhi and Kolkata issued ICAO-compliant SIGMET alerts to airports and flight crews, marking out specific airspace segments and altitudes to avoid. Satellite imagery, ash-dispersion modelling and guidance from the Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre (VAAC) were used to continuously update flight planners. As a result, some aircraft may face extended travel times, holding patterns or revised cruising levels, depending on how the remaining ash disperses.
Despite these adjustments, officials stressed that the impact on the aviation network has been modest and that further updates will be issued as the ash cloud dissipates fully from the region.
