The Traveller's Magazine
On June 4th, Chile’s Puyehue-Cordon Caulle volcano began to spew ash for the first time in decades. Showing no signs of stopping, flights in South American and even as far as Australia have been grounded as they experience similar ash cloud delays that have struck Europe two years in a row.
Experts don’t predict the volcano will slow down with the ash any time soon after more tremors were felt in the ground today, more than ten days after the initial eruption. Travellers in South America, Australia and New Zealand can expect delays to continue.
Virgin, Qantas and Jetstar have cancelled all flights to Perth, in Western Australia. As of now, flights to and from Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide continue to operate as usual but delays are expected due to an increase in passengers at the airports from other delays.
Current cancellations:
- British Airways has cancelled all flights from London Heathrow to Buenos Aires
- Qantas has cancelled all flights to and from Buenos Aires and New Zealand until further notice
- Virgin has grounded all flights to and from Christchurch and Wellington
- Air New Zealand has cancelled a large number of its domestic services
If you have plans to travel to South America or Oceania in the coming days, keep a close eye on the news and flight updates. Contact your airline before leaving for the airport if you suspect your flight has been cancelled. Until now more than 70,000 passengers have been disrupted due to the ash cloud and the number is only expected to grow.
