Flights cancelled after volcano erupts in New Zealand

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Flights in the Bay of Plenty, New Zealand faced disruptions and cancellations after a volcanic eruptions sent ash plumes into the sky, with authorities warning they could continue for “weeks to months”.

On Thursday August 22, at least 10 fights were cancelled and three were delayed from both Tauranga and Rotorua Airports, which mostly serve domestic Air New Zealand journeys, following the eruption of Whakaari White Island volcano. It appears that the flight schedule has now gone back to normal.

"We are continuing to monitor the situation to determine whether any further flights in or out of Rotorua will be impacted and advise customers travelling today to check the Air NZ app or our website for the latest information on their flight,” a spokesperson from the airline told AFP Thursday.

"The decision to cancel or delay flights this morning was a proactive safety measure."

Whakaari White Island is itself a volcano that is found around 48km from the east coast of the North Island of New Zealand in the Bay of Plenty.

The island was once a popular tourist destination until it was shut off to the public after a disaster in 2019 when it erupted and killed 22 people who were visiting the island.

The volcano had begun “near continuous minor eruptive activity” on 9 August with “minor amounts of volcanic ash in the steam and gas plume”, GNS Science, a research institute that has been monitoring the volcano, said.

The institute added that this could continue for weeks to months. The Bay of Plenty Civil Defense said in a statement on Thursday that “changes in wind direction may affect aviation.”

“Stay in touch with your airline if you have flights planned, but the advice to our communities is the same.”

“Follow the advice of the harbourmaster and keep a distance of 2 nautical miles from the island if you are out on the water,” they added.

Footage taken of the volcano by the MetService and GNS suggests that the increased amount of ash in the plume is coming from a new active vent around 10-15m in length.

While westerly winds have been mostly pushing the ash away from the mainland, a northerly wind pushed the plume towards the Bay of Plenty overnight, causing the ash to be a risk to any flights due to fly in the path, New Zealand’s MetService meteorologist Mathapelo Makgabutlane told 1News.

“As the weather changes the plume may at times be blown towards the Bay of Plenty coast,” GNS wrote in their monitoring update. “However, with the current levels of ash emission, there is a very low likelihood of ash impacting the mainland.”

New Zealand raised its volcanic alert level earlier this month to three, which is a minor eruption, out of a maximum of five levels.

The Independent has contacted Air New Zealand for comment.

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