Some of the flights cancelled on June 9, eight days after a Chilean volcano started erupting , has still been held in abeyance due to ash cloud created by the volcanic eruption.
Qantas Airways Ltd. (QAN), Australia’s biggest carrier has extended its cancellation. Qantas’ Jetstar budget brand has stopped running 66 flights and Virgin Blue Holdings Ltd. will cancel three services to New Zealand today.
“We have weather conditions that impact on the movement of the ash plume and we believe that it’s simply not safe for us to be able to fly,” Wirth said in a televised media conference on Sky News Television.
“There’s too many uncertain facts and until we know exactly where the ash plume is, exactly what the density of it is, Qantas believes it is absolutely prudent to suspend services.”
Smoke and ash rise from Puyehue-Cordon Caulle volcano, June 10, 2011. Puyehue volcano, dormant for decades, erupted in south-central Chile during the weekend, belching an ash cloud that blew over the Andes and has been disrupting air traffic in South America for days.REUTERSAsh cloud from the Chile volcanoREUTERSA policeman inspects the waters of the Nilhue River, fed by unusually warm water from the hot flanks of an erupting volcano from the Puyehue-Cordon Caulle volcanic chain, near Lago Ranco town June 9, 2011. A thick cloud of ash from the Chilean volcano brought airports to a halt in Argentina and neighboring Uruguay on Thursday, forcing airlines to cancel dozens of flights, airport officials said.REUTERSPassengers are stranded in Pudahuel International Airport in Santiago June 9, 2011. Puyehue volcano, dormant for decades, erupted in south-central Chile during the weekend, belching an ash cloud that blew over the Andes and has been disrupting air traffic in South America for days.REUTERSA boat sails by the Rio de la Plata river in Buenos Aires June 9, 2011, with visibility reduced by the presence of ash from the Puyehue Volcano in southern Chile, 1,368 km (850 miles) away. The presence of volcanic ash in airspace caused cancellation of commercial flights to and from Buenos Aires, the Transport Department said in a statement.REUTERSResidents living around the regions of the Puyehue-Cordon Caulle volcano arrive at a temporary shelter after being evacuated from their homes in Lago Ranco town, June 8, 2011. The volcano, dormant for decades, erupted in south-central Chile on June 4, belching ash over 6 miles (10 km) into the sky, as winds fanned it toward neighboring Argentina, and prompted the government to evacuate several thousand residents, authorities said.REUTERS
