Delhi and Mumbai airports both reported flight delays on Tuesday as volcanic ash from Mount Anak Krakatau spread across Asian air corridors.
The wider disruption across Asia totalled 2,927 delayed flights and 584 cancellations, hitting hubs from Tokyo to Jakarta.
Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport logged 177 delays and 4 cancellations; Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport logged 245 delays and 3 cancellations.
IndiGo recorded 258 delayed flights and 9 cancellations, and Air India recorded 114 delays and 2 cancellations during the disruption.
The volcano began erupting on September 4 in the Sunda Strait and remains at Alert Level III, with Indonesian airports reopening in phases.
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.
Mount Anak Krakatau, in Indonesia’s Sunda Strait, began erupting on September 4, triggering a five-day aviation shutdown that closed eight Indonesian airports and stranded more than 270,000 passengers.
Jakarta’s Soekarno-Hatta International Airport recorded the highest number of cancellations in the region, with 207 flights called off as ash plumes drifted over the airspace.
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.
Interior of Terminal 3, Indira Gandhi International Airport, Wikimedia Commons, CC0
