Spanish
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation of India, on Monday asked the country's airlines to review their flight plans and adjust routes and fuel in the face of the arrival of the ash cloud generated by a recent volcanic eruption in Ethiopia.
The agency warned that high-altitude ash poses a risk to engines and navigation systems, so it urged companies to strictly avoid the affected areas and flight levels, as well as to reinforce the monitoring of weather warnings and technical updates, local media reported.
The measure comes after the volcano located in the Afar rift, in eastern Ethiopia, erupted on Sunday for the first time in more than 10,000 years, with a column of ash reaching about 14 kilometers high, according to data from the Toulouse Volcanic Ash Advisory Center (France).
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Although the eruptive activity stopped hours later, the remains of the cloud continue to move east and northeast. Indian authorities predict that the ash will reach their airspace in the coming hours. Satellite images from the European platform EUMETSAT show the cloud moving east and northeast, following the upper-level winds that are pushing it towards Pakistan and northern India. The DGCA also asked airlines to review operating manuals to ensure that ash exposure protocols are applied, including specific inspections of engines and fuselages on aircraft that may have flown near the affected areas. The ash cloud is moving towards northern India just as cities like New Delhi face unbreathable levels of air pollution. Indian meteorological authorities indicated that the eruption columns rise between ten and fifteen kilometers and carry ash, sulfur dioxide and fine particles, but indicated that no significant effects on the surface are expected, as the cloud is concentrated in high levels of the atmosphere. The eruption in Ethiopia, detected by satellites due to the scarce human presence in the region, has generated health and environmental alerts in countries like Yemen and Oman, where ash falls and an increase in suspended particles have been reported.
