Ash Cloud Clears, Flights Resume for Australians

Australian airlines struggled to move a backlog of tens of thousands of passengers on Wednesday after an ash cloud from a Chilean volcano, which had grounded flights across the country's eastern and southern states, cleared.

The ash cloud has circled the earth twice to disrupt Australian airlines for a second time, costing Qantas an estimated A$20 million before the latest disruptions and the tourism industry more than A$15 million in two weeks.

Australia's Bureau of Meteorology's Volcanic Ash Advisory Center said long-term modeling suggested the ash cloud would not pass over Australia for a third time and disrupt airlines.

Volcanic ash can be extremely dangerous to aircraft and cause engine failure or engine damage.
Qantas said it had resumed flights from Melbourne and Sydney, the country's two main terminals, while Virgin Australia had also resumed flights. Qantas low-cost subsidiary Jetstar and discount carrier Tiger Airlines were all also gradually resuming flights.

"There's possibly some hope that Thursday will start to return to normal," said Civil Aviation Safety Authority spokesman Peter Gibson.

The majority of international carriers continued flights to and from Australia on Wednesday, with airlines including Singapore, Thai, Etihad and Emirates landing in Sydney.

Ash Cloud Goes Around the World in 14 Days

Ash from a Chilean volcano that has been erupting for nearly two weeks has circled the globe and come home again.

The cloud — which has disrupted flights in Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Australia and New Zealand on its around-the-world trip — on Friday forced Chilean officials to cancel domestic flights for the first time since the Cordon Caulle volcano began erupting June 4.

LAN airlines suspended flights to the cities of Puerto Montt, Coyhaique and Punta Arenas in the far south of the South American country. While ash from Cordon Caulle has wreaked havoc with air travel abroad, it had left Chile's internal flights largely untouched until Friday.

On Thursday, the government of the Argentine province of Neuquen declared an economic emergency to aid towns where falling ash from Chile's volcano is endangering livestock and keeping tourists away.

The decree by Gov. Jorge Sapag will mean that those affected can receive tax benefits, among other measures.

The ash has blanketed towns across the border in Argentina.

In the area of Villa La Angostura up to one foot of ash has accumulated on the ground. The eruption came just as resorts in the mountain towns were preparing for ski season.

Argentina's regional airports in Patagonia have also been shut down for more than a week due to the cloud of fine grit, which can damage airplane engines.

Flights Canceled in South Pacific

The fallout from the volcanic ash cloud spreading over south-east Australia has widened with Qantas, Jetstar and Tiger cancelling all flights in and out of Adelaide. Jetstar has also cancelled all of today's flights in and out of Tasmania and flights to and from New Zealand.

While most of the ash plume is south of the Australian mainland, some is hovering eight to 11 kilometres above Tasmania, Adelaide and New Zealand and is not forecast to move significantly for the next 24 hours.

Virgin Australia CEO Sean Donohue says their decision to continue flying is based on safety assessments and not marketing.

Volcano in Chile Leaves Huge Ash Cloud

Chile's Puyehue volcano was calm Sunday, one day after raining down ash and forcing thousands to flee, although the cloud of soot it had belched out still darkened skies as far away as Argentina.

A light drizzle rained down on the volcano Sunday, helping to mitigate the effects of the airborne ash somewhat, while the mountain appeared to go quiet one day after having rumbled to life.

Puyehue is located 540 miles south of the capital Santiago in the Cordon Caulle complex nestled in the Andes mountains. Its last major eruption was in 1960, following a magnitude 9.5 earthquake.

Bariloche, a Patagonian resort town about 62 miles east of the volcano, remained under a state of emergency because of the eruption, which had covered the small city of some 50,000 inhabitants by a sooty blanket of several centimeters (inches) thick.

The National Service of Geology and Mining said the explosion that sparked Puyehue's eruption produced a column of gas 10 six miles high.

"You can see the fire (in the volcano) and a plume of smoke, and there's a strong smell of sulfur," top Los Rios region official Juan Andres Varas told reporters.

The government, which ordered the evacuation of 600 people immediately after the eruption, over the course of Saturday expanded that number to 3,500 people to be relocated to shelters in safe areas.