A rare eruption of Ethiopia’s long-dormant Hayli Gubbi volcano on 24 November has sent a 45,000-foot ash plume sweeping across key air corridors linking India and the Gulf. Within hours, Indian carrier Akasa Air cancelled all services to Abu Dhabi, Jeddah and Kuwait for 24–25 November, citing “unsafe flying conditions” and offering affected passengers refunds or free rebooking within seven days. Other airlines—including IndiGo, Air India and KLM—diverted or grounded multiple flights that normally overfly the northern Arabian Sea and the UAE’s busy FIRs.
Aviation authorities moved quickly. India’s Directorate-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) issued an advisory urging carriers and airports to monitor real-time volcanic-ash bulletins, while Dubai and Abu Dhabi ATC began rerouting traffic to southern approaches to keep aircraft below the ash layer. Meteorologists at the Tokyo VAAC now tracking the plume expect it to drift east toward China by the evening of 25 November, but warned that upper-level wind changes could prolong disruption through mid-week.
![Ethiopian volcanic ash forces Gulf flight cancellations, disrupts Abu-Dhabi connectivity]()
For UAE business travellers and mobility managers the immediate impact is higher risk of missed connections and crew-duty infringements. DXB and AUH have advised passengers to check flight status before heading to the airport and to allow extra transit time for possible security-queue congestion triggered by last-minute gate changes. Companies operating time-critical projects in the Gulf and India are activating duty-of-care playbooks—booking flexible tickets, using multi-carrier routings via Doha or Muscat, and pre-positioning staff where feasible.
From a compliance perspective, employers should note that cancelled tourist or short-term work visas automatically expire if travellers do not enter the UAE within their validity window. Immigration advisers recommend filing “unused-visa cancellation” requests via ICP’s e-channels within five days to avoid penalties, then reissuing visas once revised itineraries are confirmed. Travel insurers have reminded policyholders that many basic corporate plans exclude “acts of nature” delays unless specific natural-perils riders are in place.
Aviation authorities moved quickly. India’s Directorate-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) issued an advisory urging carriers and airports to monitor real-time volcanic-ash bulletins, while Dubai and Abu Dhabi ATC began rerouting traffic to southern approaches to keep aircraft below the ash layer. Meteorologists at the Tokyo VAAC now tracking the plume expect it to drift east toward China by the evening of 25 November, but warned that upper-level wind changes could prolong disruption through mid-week.
For UAE business travellers and mobility managers the immediate impact is higher risk of missed connections and crew-duty infringements. DXB and AUH have advised passengers to check flight status before heading to the airport and to allow extra transit time for possible security-queue congestion triggered by last-minute gate changes. Companies operating time-critical projects in the Gulf and India are activating duty-of-care playbooks—booking flexible tickets, using multi-carrier routings via Doha or Muscat, and pre-positioning staff where feasible.
From a compliance perspective, employers should note that cancelled tourist or short-term work visas automatically expire if travellers do not enter the UAE within their validity window. Immigration advisers recommend filing “unused-visa cancellation” requests via ICP’s e-channels within five days to avoid penalties, then reissuing visas once revised itineraries are confirmed. Travel insurers have reminded policyholders that many basic corporate plans exclude “acts of nature” delays unless specific natural-perils riders are in place.
