Flight cancellations as ash cloud from Tongan volcanic eruption grows

Airlines have been forced to cancel dozens of flights after the ash cloud from Tonga’s volcano spreads across the Pacific.

A massive volcanic eruption in Tonga that triggered tsunami waves around the Pacific is also causing travel chaos as the ash cloud continues to spread.

Fiji Airways has been worst impacted and was forced to cancel all of its flights today due to the ash cloud wreaking havoc in the Pacific.

Virgin Australia and Jetstar also cancelled all flights into Nadi, Fiji’s international airport, today.

In a statement, Fiji Airways announced it had cancelled flights “due to hazardous operating conditions as a result of the ash cloud from the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcanic eruption”.

“The decision follows extensive operational assessments (on January 16) after receiving updates from authorities in the region on the movement of the volcanic ash cloud,” the airline added.

“Fiji Airways and Fiji Link thank passengers for their understanding and reiterate that the safety of our guests and crew is of paramount importance.”

Fiji Airways was forced to cancel flights due to the eruption.

Passengers are receiving updates on their flight via email or the phone number linked to their booking. They can also check updated flight times online.

Both Australia and New Zealand’s air force have sent reconnaissance flights this morning to assess the damage.

The federal government’s travel warning website Smartraveller is also warning Australians to avoid Tonga.

“Only Tongan citizens and permanent residents can enter Tonga at this time. Most international flights have been cancelled, and options to leave the country are extremely limited. A state of emergency is in force and activities are restricted to prevent the spread of Covid-19,” Smartraveller warned.

The eruption on Saturday was so powerful it was recorded around the world and heard as far away as Alaska, triggering a tsunami that flooded Pacific coastlines from Japan to the United States.

The capital of Tonga, Nuku’alofa, suffered “significant” damage, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said, adding there had been no reports of injury or death but a full assessment was not yet possible with communication lines down.

“The tsunami has had a significant impact on the foreshore on the northern side of Nuku’alofa with boats and large boulders washed ashore,” Ms Ardern said after contact with the New Zealand embassy in Tonga.

“Nuku’alofa is covered in a thick film of volcanic dust but otherwise conditions are calm and stable.”

The ash cloud from Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai volcano. Picture: Tonga Geological Services/Eyepress

Tonga was in need of water supplies, Ms Ardern said, as “the ash cloud has caused contamination”.

Dramatic satellite images showed the long, rumbling eruption of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano spew smoke and ash in the air, with a thunderous roar heard 10,000km away in Alaska.

The eruption triggered tsunamis across the Pacific with waves of 1.74m measured in Chanaral, Chile, more than 10,000km away, and smaller waves seen along the Pacific coast from Alaska to Mexico.

The volcanic eruption could be seen from space. Picture: National Institute of Information and Communications/AFP

Two women drowned on a beach in northern Peru due to “anomalous waves” caused by the eruption, authorities said on Sunday, and dozens of people required rescuing from flooding in the south of the country.

In California, the city of Santa Cruz was hit by flooding due to a tidal surge generated by the tsunami, while waves of around 1.2m hit along Japan’s Pacific coast.

The volcano’s eruption lasted at least eight minutes and sent plumes of gas, ash and smoke several kilometres into the air.

Hunga-Tonga-Hunga-Ha’apai, which lies about 65km north of Nuku’alofa, has a history of volatility.

In recent years it breached sea level during a 2009 eruption, while in 2015 it spewed so many large rocks and ash into the air that when they settled, a new island had formed two kilometres long by one kilometre wide and 100 metres high.

– with AFP