Interior of Terminal 3, Indira Gandhi International Airport, Wikimedia Commons, CC0
IndiGo and Air India reported dozens of delayed flights on Tuesday as volcanic ash from Mount Anak Krakatau disrupted Asian air travel.
IndiGo logged 258 delays and 9 cancellations, while Air India recorded 114 delays and 2 cancellations, part of a region-wide total of 2,927 delays and 584 cancellations.
Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport saw 177 delayed flights and 4 cancellations; Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport saw 245 delays and 3 cancellations.
Tokyo Haneda logged the highest number of delays at 394, while Jakarta’s Soekarno-Hatta International Airport recorded the most cancellations at 207.
The disruption traces back to an eruption that began September 4 at Mount Anak Krakatau in Indonesia’s Sunda Strait, which remains at Alert Level III.
Tokyo’s Haneda Airport recorded the highest delay count of any single airport, with 394 delayed flights as congestion rippled across connecting hubs.
Shanghai Pudong International Airport also reported disruption, logging 178 delays and 8 cancellations as the ash cloud affected regional air corridors.
As of September 7, Indonesian volcanological authorities kept Anak Krakatau at Alert Level III, warning that the risk of further eruptions remained high and that airports were reopening in phases rather than all at once.
Etihad Airways and SpiceJet were among the international and domestic carriers reporting delays on services to and from Delhi and Mumbai during the disruption.
Volcanic ash poses a direct safety hazard to jet engines, which is why aviation authorities impose ground restrictions and altitude diversions rather than allowing aircraft to fly through affected airspace.
Garuda Indonesia and Batik Air, the two largest carriers based in the affected region, reported the heaviest cancellation rates of any airline tracked in the disruption.
Airlines advised passengers travelling through affected hubs to check flight status directly with carriers before heading to the airport, as ash-related restrictions were being updated through the day.
Interior of Terminal 3, Indira Gandhi International Airport, Wikimedia Commons, CC0
