Qantas has cancelled all flights to Tasmania and New Zealand, along with flights to and from Adelaide airport as a result of the volcanic ash spreading across the Pacific Ocean from Chile, but Virgin has said flights will resume today as per usual.
The update comes after flights were cancelled both yesterday and on Saturday as a result of the ash, which echoes the airline disaster experienced last year when an Icelandic volcano explosion caused delays and cancellations for several days.
Qantas announced this morning that services to and from Tasmania and New Zealand would be cancelled today due to the ash, which has spread across the ocean from the Puyehue-Cordon Caulle volcano.
The company has said it is currently contacting customers and will help them find alternative transportation. About 20,000 passengers are believed to have been affected, with over 50,000 said to be caught up in the entire cancellation mess.
“Passengers with bookings on cancelled services will be contacted and rebooked on alternative services. Qantas will seek to schedule supplementary services to help clear the backlog,” it said in a statement.
Qantas also said flights to and from Adelaide will remain suspended until 12.30pm AEST, although flights to and from Melbourne will be operating normally. All the announcements include Jetstar bookings as well.
However, Virgin has informed customers that flights will continue as per usual, with Virgin Australia group executive Sean Donohue saying the company’s ash management team will continually watch the situation as it unfolds.
“Our Volcanic Ash Management Team continues to work closely with the Bureau of Meteorology and the Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre in order to ensure determinations regarding our fleet operations are made on accurate and up to the minute data, as safety is always our highest priority,” he said in a statement.
Additional flights have been provided for stranded and delayed customers.
However, Tiger Airways has also announced flights to Adelaide and Tasmania have been cancelled, with the airline reviewing the situation throughout the rest of the day.
The discrepancy between the action taken by all the major airlines has prompted questions about security, with some stranded passengers questioning whether Qantas and Tiger have been too cautious, or whether Virgin has been too reckless.
However, the Civil Aviation Safety Authority has said in a statement companies are able to travel as long as they take enough security precautions to ensure the arrival of all passengers.
“CASA has no issue with airlines continuing operations provided they avoid the areas of forecast volcanic ash and any actual areas of ash.”
“Airlines may choose to take a more conservative approach based on their own risk assessment.”
Patrick Stafford is a freelance journalist and a former deputy editor of SmartCompany.
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