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Beyond the TarmacThe eruption of the ‘Hayli Gubbi’ volcano in Ethiopia reported to be dormant for several thousand years began on November 23, sending an ash column thousands of feet into the atmosphere. The volcano, situated in Ethiopia’s Afar Region, erupted on for several hours,launching a huge ash column 10–15km into the sky and quickly darkening the horizon. The volcano, which rises about 500m in altitude, sits within the Rift Valley, a zone reportedly of intense geological activity, where two tectonic plates meet. Surprisingly, the plume of volcanic ash from Ethiopia has swept across the Red Sea through Oman, Yemen and blanketed parts of Pakistan and Northern India before reaching the Indian capital New Delhi, which is thousands of kilometres away!According to tracking website, Flightradar24, it is now moving towards China. Because volcanic ash at high altitude poses serious hazards to aircraft (engines, sensors, visibility), this triggered widespread aviation disruptions.Subsequently, several international and domestic flights were either cancelled, delayed or rerouted in India because of the ash, with the country's aviation regulator-Directorate General of Civil Aviation or DGCA asking airlines to "strictly avoid" affected areas.Even long-haul and international routes outside Ethiopia (eg Europe–India flights) experienced cancellations or rerouting.Flights from Newark to Delhi, New York to Delhi, Dubai to Hyderabad, Doha to Mumbai, Dubai to Chennai, Dammam to Mumbai, Doha to Delhi, Chennai to Mumbai, and Hyderabad to Delhi were among those cancelled.Airports along affected routes also had to prepare for potential runway or taxiway contamination, and in some cases suspend operations until safety could be assured.As ash disperses, airlines and aviation authorities will need continuous monitoring (satellite, Toulouse-based Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre - VAAC advisories, meteorological data), which adds complexity to flight scheduling.The volatile nature of ash dispersion is likely to lead to lingering uncertainty, even after the eruption subsides, reports suggest.Experts say volcanic ash is a cloud of tiny, abrasive particles released into the atmosphere during an eruption. It can damage aircraft engines, contaminate airfields and reduce visibility, making it hazardous to flight operations.Also, because ash melts at relatively low temperatures when passing through a jet engine’s combustion zone, it can form molten glass inside the engine, which then solidifies on turbine blades, blocking airflow, which risks a flameout or engine shutdown.Volcanic ash can clog pitot tubes, static ports, or other sensor openings. That potentially leads to erroneous airspeed/altitude/airsystem readings — dangerous for navigation and flight control.Ash abrasion may scratch or obscure cockpit windows; in heavy ash, visibility can drop significantly. This is risky especially for takeoff/landing or approach phases.If ash falls on runways, taxiways, aprons — even in small amounts — it reduces braking efficiency, contaminate ground equipment, and force airport closures until cleanup is done.Because of these risks, aviation safety protocols require that aircraft avoid flying through ash-affected airspace or altitudes when ash plumes are present; and after exposure, aircraft must undergo detailed inspections before resuming service.The Smithsonian Institution's Global Volcanism Programme said Hayli Gubbi has had no known eruptions during the Holocene, which began around 12,000 years ago at the end of the last Ice Age.Experts also point out volcanic ash clouds are rare. But when Iceland's Eyjafjallajökull volcano erupted in 2010, it caused global travel chaos.UK and European airspace was shut or partially shut, leading to the worst air-travel disruption since World War Two.Industry analysts say this event — despite originating from a remote volcano in Ethiopia — has already shown how interconnected global air travel is- a single ash plume has disrupted flights across continents!The eruption of the Hayli Gubbi volcano is more than a local environmental event, they point out.Because of how high the ash plume rose and how far it drifted (across the Arabian Peninsula into South Asia), it created immediate, widespread disruption to international air travel — grounding flights, forcing reroutes, and prompting safety advisories.For the aviation industry, it is a stark reminder of volcanic risk, even from remote or geologically inactive areas, and how fragile some of the world’s air-traffic dependencies are!  

A volcano on Indonesia's main island of Java erupted Wednesday, throwing ash and gas kilometres into the sky and forcing officials to raise the alert status to its highest level. Mount Semeru in eastern Java, about 310kms west of the tourist hotspot of Bali, erupted at 2.13pm local time (0713 GMT), spewing what are known as pyroclastic flows, Indonesian geological agency head Muhammad Wafid said."The public is advised not to engage in activities within an 8km radius of the crater or peak of Mount Semeru due to the risk of being struck by ejected rocks," he said in a statement. The national disaster agency said the plume of ash had risen as far as 13kms into the air.

A volcano on Sakurajima in Kagoshima Prefecture, southwestern Japan, erupted early Sunday morning, sending a plume of ash and smoke up to 4,400 meters into the atmosphere, the Japan's weather agency said.The eruption continued after the initial event, prompting the agency to issue an ashfall forecast for parts of Kagoshima, Kumamoto and Miyazaki prefectures. No injuries or damage to buildings have been reported, according to Japan's News Agency (Kyodo).In the latest series of eruptions, large volcanic rocks flew as far as the fifth station, but no pyroclastic flows were detected. The alert level remains at three on a scale of five, which restricts access to the mountain.Sakurajima, one of Japan's most active volcanoes, is linked to the Osumi Peninsula on Kyushu, the country's southwestern main island. It was once an island, but a a major lava flow in 1914 created a land bridge to the peninsula.

Mt. Shinmoe on the southwestern Japan main island of Kyushu erupted Thursday, spewing a plume of ash 5,500 meters above the crater.The eruption that occurred this morning sent volcanic material 5,000 meters above the volcano's peak for the first time since July 3, Japan News Agency (Kyodo) said, citing the Japan Meteorological Agency.The agency maintained the level 3 alert on a scale of 5, calling on the public to refrain from approaching the crater in both Miyazaki and Kagoshima prefectures.Mt. Shinmoe, straddling the two prefectures and one of 50 constantly monitored active volcanoes in Japan, erupted on June 22 for the first time since June 2018.