SYDNEY —
More Australian flights were canceled Tuesday because of ash from a Chilean volcano, this time out of a midsize southern airport, as airlines scrambled to fly out thousands of passengers who had been stranded for two days in Melbourne.
National carrier Qantas and budget airline Jetstar said they planned to add capacity to and from Melbourne, Australia’s second-largest city, and hoped to get all passengers in the air by the end of the day.
More than 60,000 passengers have been stranded by the disruptions, which came amid a three-day holiday weekend in Australia. It was unclear how many people were still stranded in Melbourne as flights resumed there.
Meanwhile, about two dozen flights into and out of the southern city of Adelaide were canceled Tuesday. The grounded flights included service by budget carrier Tiger Airways, which also canceled a flight between Melbourne and the western city of Perth because the route would require planes to cross through the ash cloud.
Qantas and Jetstar also kept flights to the island state of Tasmania and New Zealand grounded, as they have since Sunday.
Ash has moved across the Pacific from Chile, where it has been spewing from the Cordon Caulle volcano since June 4. Particles in the ash can damage jet engines.
Despite the danger, the Australian air force flew stranded Tasmanian lawmakers to the national capital Canberra in a jet late Monday to attend Tuesday’s parliamentary session, the government said in a statement. The government holds a single-seat majority in the House of Representatives, so any absences could bring it down.
There were no problems reported with the flight.
Flights in the South American countries of Chile, Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil were grounded for some days following the eruption.
New Zealand’s Civil Aviation Authority said Tuesday that the ash will be back in Chile soon, after having circled the globe. Even if the eruption stops now, however, the agency said, Australia and New Zealand can expect at least another week of ash clouds in their airspace.
Australia’s Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre said flights could be affected for several days, mostly in southeastern Australia, which includes Tasmania, Melbourne. Adelaide is about halfway across Australia’s southern coast.
“We were worried about it potentially pushing up to Canberra and Sydney, but that’s less of a concern for us now,” Andrew Tupper, head of the center, told the Australia Broadcasting Corp.
The center’s graphic projection of the ash cloud shows that it will remain over Adelaide at through Tuesday night.
National carrier Air New Zealand never suspended service, instead choosing to divert flights and alter altitudes. Virgin Australia is using similar methods, but Qantas has repeatedly rejected flying below the cloud.
Virgin Australia, which initially canceled similar routes but resumed all flights Monday, expects to have worked through its backlog by the end of Tuesday, according to spokesman Colin Lippiatt.
The flight warnings and disruptions come 14 months after air traffic was grounded across Europe after the eruption of Iceland’s Eyjafjallajokull volcano.
International
Ash plume halts flights to another Australia city
- International
-
-
Barbara becomes hurricane off Mexican coast
Barbara rose to hurricane strength Wednesday as it steamed toward a sparsely populated stretch of Mexico’s southern Pacific coast, where it was expected to quickly make landfall.
-
Argentine Jorge Bergoglio elected Pope Francis
Jorge Bergoglio of Argentina was elected pope Wednesday and chose the name Francis, becoming the first pontiff from the Americas and the first from outside Europe in more than a millennium.
Looking stunned, Francis shyly waved to the crowd of tens of thousands of people who gathered in St. Peter’s Square, marveling that the cardinals needed to look to “the end of the earth” to find a bishop of Rome. -
Pope Benedict VXI resigning
VATICAN CITY (AP) — With a few words in Latin, Pope Benedict VXI did Monday what no pope has done in more than half a millennium, announcing his resignation and sending the already troubled Catholic Church scrambling to replace the leader of its 1 billion followers by Easter.
Not even his closest associates had advance word of the news, a bombshell that he dropped during a routine morning meeting of Vatican cardinals. With no clear favorites to succeed him, another surprise likely awaits when the cardinals elect Benedict’s successor next month.
“Without doubt this is a historic moment,” said Cardinal Christoph Schoenborn, a protege and former theology student of Benedict’s who is considered a papal contender. “Right now, 1.2 billion Catholics the world over are holding their breath.” -
Suicide bomber kills guard at US Embassy in Turkey
In the second deadly assault on a U.S. diplomatic post in five months, a suicide bomber struck the American Embassy in Ankara on Friday, killing a Turkish security guard in what the White House described as a terrorist attack.
-
EU summit ends without budget deal
A summit of the European Union’s 27 national leaders, charged with agreeing on a long-term budget for the bloc, broke up Friday afternoon without being able to reach a deal.
-
Govt to let Cubans travel freely
The Cuban government announced Tuesday that it will eliminate a half-century-old restriction that requires citizens to get an exit visa to leave the country.
-
Prince Philip in hospital, misses jubilee concert
Thousands of flag-waving fans gathered Monday to watch Paul McCartney, Elton John and other musical royalty celebrate Queen Elizabeth II with a Buckingham Palace concert featuring acts from throughout her 60-year-reign. But the joy was tempered by news that the queen’s husband, Prince Philip, was hospitalized with a bladder infection.
-
Australian billionaire: Titanic II to sail in 2016
An Australian billionaire said Monday he’ll build a high-tech replica of the Titanic at a Chinese shipyard and its maiden voyage in late 2016 will be from England to New York, just like its namesake planned.
-
Seafarers outraged that captain jumped ship
Seafaring tradition holds that the captain should be last to leave a sinking ship, but is it realistic to expect skippers to suppress their survival instinct amid the horror of a maritime disaster? To ask them to stare down death from the bridge, as the lights go out and the water rises, until everyone else has made it to safety?
-
Thousands enjoy merry Christmas in Bethlehem
Tens of thousands of tourists and Christian pilgrims packed the West Bank town of Bethlehem for Christmas Eve celebrations Saturday, bringing warm holiday cheer to the traditional birthplace of Jesus on a raw, breezy and rainy night.
- More International Headlines
-
Barbara becomes hurricane off Mexican coast
Hoffa Mystery Still Fascinates After 4 Decades
Raw: 1 Dead in Shooting at Mo. Apartment Complex
Raw: Huge Fire Near Yosemite National Park
Raw: Obama Arrives in Berlin
3 Charged in Ohio With Enslaving Mom, Daughter
Obama Seeks G-8 Support on Syria
Raw: Volcano Erupts Near Mexico City
Kid Couture: Spending Big Bucks on Babies
Suicide Bombs Target Baghdad Mosque, Killing 29
Military Plans to Put Women in Combat Jobs
Solar Power Chargers in NYC Parks
Civil Rights Groups Sue NYPD Over Muslim Spying
Raw: First Lady, Daughters Enjoy Irish Sights
RAW: NSA Director Says 50 Plots Foiled
Boeing, Airbus Battle for Sales Supremacy
