Australian flights resuming as ash cloud clears

Created: Wed, 22 Jun 2011 11:17:39 GMT+0700

Last Updated: 7 hours 28 minutes ago

Australian flights are gradually resuming on Wednesday morning as airlines try to clear the backlog of passengers stranded by cancellations due to the ash cloud from a Chilean volcano.

But experts say the cloud is now on its way to New Zealand and will still affect the Tasmanian city, Hobart, on Wednesday afternoon.

Some trans-Tasman flights have already been cancelled.

Hundreds of travellers spent Tuesday night stranded at Australian airports as flights were disrupted for the second time in just over a week.

Qantas resumed flights to and from Adelaide at 5:00am (local time) on Wednesday, and will be followed by Melbourne at 11:00am and Canberra, Sydney and Hobart in the afternoon.

Jetstar has grounded services until 11:00am, and says it will reassess the situation later on Wednesday morning.

Virgin Australia will also resume flights from Adelaide at 7:00am, with the other capital cities to follow from midday.

Tiger Airlines still has a number of flights cancelled at Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Adelaide, but will update its flight advice at 10:00am.

Qantas and Virgin Airlines initially announced all services to Sydney, Melbourne and the national capital would be suspended until this afternoon.

However, the threat from the ash plume appears to be easing faster than expected.

Qantas spokeswoman Olivia Wirth says the ash cloud has shifted into the Tasman Sea.

"The ash cloud has moved across the continent very quickly. It's moving at around 200 kilometres per hour," she said.

"This is creating an impact on not only one port, as we saw last week, but multiple ports at the one time which has a further impact on Qantas's operations and in fact many airlines' operations."

Canberra Airport spokesman Stephen Byron says the resumption of flights will be gradual.

He says travellers should contact their airlines.

"There's been significant disruption obviously for people trying to travel, but the ash cloud has now passed and from (11:00am) this morning, air services from Canberra will reopen and services towards Sydney will reopen from (2:00pm) this afternoon," he said.

Dr Andrew Tupper from the Bureau of Meteorology's Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre says Tasmania remains under the ash cloud.

"The only Australian capital still affected late today I think will probably be Hobart and the problem there is the edge of the ash cloud is brushing Hobart," he said.

"Obviously we are trying to constrain that as much as we possibly can but it does look like there will be ash there so most of this ash is heading over the Tasman now and will be over the New Zealand fairly shortly."