Flights from western India undergo ‘volcano checks’
Times of India | 26 November 2025
Kolkata: Air India on Tuesday cancelled a morning flight from Mumbai to Kolkata and back after the aircraft was grounded along with several others for urgent inspections. This occurred as multiple Indian carriers began precautionary checks on jets that flew through airspace contaminated by ash from Ethiopia's Hayli Gubbi volcano.
The move triggered a series of cancellations and route modifications across the network as airlines assessed potential engine or systems exposure to volcanic particles. The disruption came after a massive ash plume from the Hayli Gubbi volcano — erupting for the first time in nearly 10,000 years —drifted across the Red Sea and Arabian Sea before sweeping over large parts of northwest India on Monday night. It passed over Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Delhi-NCR, and Punjab.
The DGCA advised airlines to avoid affected corridors, warning that volcanic ash can severely damage aircraft engines and sensors. Air India confirmed the cancellations in a statement issued on X, citing "precautionary checks on those aircraft which flew over certain geographical locations after the Hayli Gubbi volcanic eruption".
The airline said ground teams were assisting stranded passengers with rebooking and hotel accommodation. "We sincerely regret inconvenience caused to flyers due to this unforeseen situation beyond our control. The safety of our passengers and crew remains our highest priority," the airline said in a statement.
The cancellations included long-haul and domestic routes such as Newark-Delhi, New York-Delhi, Dubai-Hyderabad, Doha-Mumbai, Dubai-Chennai, and Doha-Delhi on Nov 24, and Chennai-Mumbai, Hyderabad-Delhi, Mumbai-Hyderabad-Mumbai, and Mumbai-Kolkata-Mumbai on Nov 25. The Airbus A320 neo scheduled for the Mumbai-Kolkata run earlier operated multiple Delhi-linked sectors before being taken out of service for inspection, officials said.
Flyers took to social media to express frustration over last-minute disruptions. One traveller, Teekam Singh Gehlot, wrote on X about arriving to check in for his Mumbai-Kolkata flight only to learn — after completing security screening — that his ticket was shifted to the next day without prior intimation. "No information about cancellation of flight. When I reached to book my luggage on the counter you booked it and issued a boarding pass for the next date without informing me..." he wrote.
Airlines, including IndiGo and Akasa Air, cancelled select flights. Akasa and IndiGo reiterated that safety protocols mandated avoiding ash-laden skies and adjusting schedules where necessary. Meteorologists said the ash plume, travelling at an altitude above 10 km, posed limited direct air-quality impact but could momentarily dim skies. The IMD added the cloud was expected to clear Indian airspace by Tuesday night and move towards China.