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Air New Zealand has not cancelled or delayed any of its flights despite volcanic ash from Chile's Cordon Caulle, which has disrupted other airlines' travel plans.
Air NZ spokeswoman Tracy Mills told NZPA this morning the national carrier did not expect any cancellations to its domestic or international service as
a result of the ash that began to drift up the country last night.
But the company would adjust flight routes and altitudes to ensure aircraft remained clear of any ash, she said.
Yesterday, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) said the ash was expected to disrupt national and international flights for the next week as it invaded the country's airspace.
Already, Qantas and Jetstar have been forced to cancel some flights scheduled for today.
Qantas confirmed it has cancelled 22 flights to and from New Zealand and Tasmania.
A Qantas spokeswoman said all 14 flights in and out of Tasmania on Sunday had been cancelled.
Eight flights between Australia and Wellington, Christchurch and Queenstown had also been grounded, she said.
The cancellations affect about 1500 passengers and Qantas is attempting to contact everyone ahead of their scheduled flight.
"We are doing our best to do a call out to everyone that we can," the spokeswoman said.
Jetstar has cancelled a number domestic flights between Christchurch and Auckland, Christchurch and Queenstown, and Auckland and Queenstown today.
It has also cancelled some trans-Tasman flights, between Christchurch and Sydney, Christchurch and Melbourne, and Queenstown and Melbourne.
The volcano began erupting on June 4 with the initial ash plume reaching above 50,000ft (15,240m).
The eruption ejected small particles very high into the atmosphere, where strong winds have carried them great distances to the east, the CAA said.
Ash plumes arrived over southern parts of New Zealand last night and have been spreading northwards.
The plumes were expected to be at cruising levels for both jet and turboprop aircraft (20,000-35,000ft), but at the moment not below 20,000ft, the CAA said.
New Zealand has a Volcanic Ash Advisory System that ensured civil aviation operations could be safely carried out near volcanic ash. The CAA was also communicating with the Australian Civil Aviation Safety Authority, to ensure both countries had the latest information available.
The MetService will track the volcanic ash plumes and provide warnings to the aviation industry here and over the wider area -- roughly from the Equator to the Pole and mid-Tasman to just west of South America.
At this stage the forecast direction of the volcanic ash plumes might initially have an effect on air traffic routes over the South Island, the Christchurch to Australia routes, and the great circle routes between Australia and New Zealand and South America, the CAA said.
The situation was being closely monitored and other air traffic routes might be affected as volcanic ash forecasts are updated. Based upon information provided by MetService, airlines will adjust their flight routes and altitudes to remain clear of the ash clouds. Safety of the air operations is the primary goal, and flight disruptions will be minimised as much as possible consistent with this objective.
- NZPA
