Ash Cloud Grounds Australia Flights. A cloud of ash from an erupting volcano in Chile disrupted air travel in New Zealand and Australia for a second day on Monday, causing scores of flights to be cancelled and grounding thousands of travellers.
Flights between New Zealand and Australia, and some domestic routes in both countries, were disrupted as the cloud, which has travelled around 10,000km across the Atlantic and Indian oceans, drifted over their southern air space.
Air New Zealand kept in the air by rerouting flights and flying at lower altitudes to avoid the ash, but was monitoring developments closely.
"We may well be affected later on today and tomorrow because if we can't exit or operate across the Tasman (Sea) and get to 6,090m before we enter into controlled air space then we will have issues in the next few days," said Air NZ chief pilot David Morgan.
Air NZ flights have been operating at around 5,800 metres although it is more costly in fuel consumption. The volcano in the Puyehue-Cordon Caulle chain in Chile has been erupting for the past week, throwing South American air travel into chaos as it spews ash high into the atmosphere.
Virgin Australia , which had cancelled services on Sunday, said it was resuming flights.
"Overnight we have been monitoring closely the situation and we now believe that conditions are safe to operate," said Sean Donohue, Virgin Australia's executive operations manager.
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Photos: Australian, NZ flights cancelled over Chilean ash cloud
However, Qantas and its budget offshoot, Jetstar, maintained a ban on flying out of the southern city of Melbourne and the southern island state of Tasmania until mid-afternoon local time at least.
All flights within and to and from New Zealand were also still suspended, and Qantas cancelled three services to Argentina and the United States because of the ash cloud. The national carrier said the outlook was unpredictable.
Aviation authorities and airlines are closely monitoring the plume, with Virgin Australia saying Monday it believed it was safe to fly to Melbourne, Tasmania and New Zealand, adding its planes would fly around or under the ash. “We decided to resume services based on information that we received from the Bureau of Meteorology and also the Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre,” a spokeswoman said. In New Zealand, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) said the cloud now covered most of the country and was likely remain for the next 24 hours. Authority spokesman Bill Sommer said the CAA believed it was safe to fly under the cloud, but the decision on whether to fly rested with individual airlines.
The cancellations have delayed at least 10,000 Qantas travellers, and a further 12,000 passengers on Qantas’ offshoot Jetstar are also affected.
"It is really difficult to say because it's so hard to predict the behaviour of the ash cloud. We can only look 12 hours ahead at the most and even then it is difficult to say with any certainty," said Qantas spokesman Tom Woodward.
“It’s down to our safety standards. Our Qantas group policy is that if there is any sign of ash cloud around we won’t operate,” airline spokeswoman Olivia Wirth told state broadcaster ABC.
“The problem at the moment that we have is that we just don’t know the density of this ash cloud. There isn’t the technology here in Australia to determine that, so we don’t know whether it’s a thick ash cloud or one that ‘s quite thin.
“So at this stage, if there’s any sign of ash we won’t be flying.” Aviation authorities and airlines are closely monitoring the plume, with Virgin Australia saying Monday it believed it was safe to fly to Melbourne, Tasmania and New Zealand, adding its planes would fly around or under the ash. “We decided to resume services based on information that we received from the Bureau of Meteorology and also the Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre,” a spokeswoman said. In New Zealand, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) said the cloud now covered most of the country and was likely remain for the next 24 hours. Authority spokesman Bill Sommer said the CAA believed it was safe to fly under the cloud, but the decision on whether to fly rested with individual airlines.
Despite the disruptions, airports in both countries reported little chaos at terminals On Monday, with many affected passengers having abandoned their travel plans for now.
Aviation authorities and airlines are closely monitoring the plume, with Virgin Australia saying Monday it believed it was safe to fly to Melbourne, Tasmania and New Zealand, adding its planes would fly around or under the ash.
“We decided to resume services based on information that we received from the Bureau of Meteorology and also the Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre,” a spokeswoman said.
New Zealand's Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) said there was no need for an official ban on flights and airlines would be left to make their own decisions.
“Air New Zealand is happy that they are remaining clear of the ash cloud, and at the moment we are happy that is safe for the passengers,” he told TVNZ Monday. “We provide the volcanic ash information to the airlines and it’s up to airlines to make their own operational decisions about whether they are going to fly.”
"At the moment the ash is basically trapped in the stratosphere, it's not falling below that, so the air space below the ash cloud is viable for operations," CAA meteorological manager Peter Lechner said on Radio New Zealand, adding the effects of the volcano could last for weeks.
The fine ash particles, which pose a danger to aircraft bodies and engines, were carried east by the prevailing winds to sit between 6,096m and 10,668m across southern parts of Australia and New Zealand.
Australia’s Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre said a similar ash cloud had not been seen in two decades and this one was likely to continue to travel around the globe, after passing over Tasmania and New Zealand.
“It went over the south Atlantic, south of South Africa and into the southern Indian Ocean and around the south of Western Australia,” said Graham Weston, volcanic ash forecaster at the Darwin centre.
“It’s almost circumnavigated the world.”
Air travel in northern Europe and Britain was disrupted last month after Iceland's most active volcano at Grimsvotn sent a thick plume of ash and smoke as high as 25km. This was worse than the Chilean fall-out because it spread ash throughout the air column, from ground level to the upper atmosphere.
Source: relax
