Chilean volcanic ash grounds Australia flights, thousands stranded
13 Jun 2011
Sydney: With strong winds carrying ash from an erupting Chilean volcano more than half way around the world, over the southern Atlantic and southern Indian Ocean to Australia and New Zealand, Australian airlines have grounded a number of domestic and international services. Tens of thousands of travellers are now stranded as a result.
Chile's Puyehue volcano erupted more than a week ago.
Australia's Qantas said all flights in and out of the southern island of Tasmania and to New Zealand were grounded on Monday. Three Qantas international services to Buenos Aires and Los Angeles were also cancelled, the airline said, but flights in and out of Melbourne had now resumed.
A total of 110 Qantas flights were cancelled on Sunday and Monday, stranding at least 20,000 travellers and a further 12,000 passengers on Qantas subsidiary Jetstar.
"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 said.
Virgin Australia said today it believed it was safe to fly to Melbourne, Tasmania and New Zealand, and that 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.
