By Marissa Calligeros
Ash cloud ... locals in Chile's Neuquen village protect themselves from ash particles as the effect continues to be felt world wide.Credit: AFP
Flights to and from southern capitals for Wednesday are being progressively cancelled as the volcanic ash plume continues to cause air traffic chaos across Australia and New Zealand.
Brisbane Airport warned travellers of domestic delays following the cancellation of all flights to Sydney, Canberra and Adelaide Tuesday night.
Virgin Australia, Qantas and Jetstar progressively cancelled all services in and out of the three cities with a volcanic ash cloud from a Chilean volcano drifting across Australian airspace.
Qantas late Tuesday announced it was cancelling all flights out of Melbourne, Sydney and Canberra for Wednesday, while Tiger has cancelled flights between Melbourne and Brisbane.
Virgin has cancelled all services in and out of Canberra and Sydney until 4pm Wednesday and all services in and out of Melbourne until 1pm.
Brisbane Airport Corporation has urged travellers to stay in contact with their airline to monitor the status of flights scheduled.
Qantas spokeswoman Olivia Worth said the airline would not risk flying, while the density of the ash cloud was unknown.
Chile's Puyehue-Cordon Caulle volcano began erupting on June 4, shooting a plume of ash into the air which made its way eastward across the Atlantic and Indian oceans before reaching Australian and New Zealand airspace.
Last week, almost 100,000 people and 700 flights were affected by the ash plume over six days of air chaos spanning from Perth to New Zealand.
In May, the Grimsvotn volcano in Iceland erupted, disrupting flights in some parts of northern Europe.
In April last year, the eruption of a volcano under the Eyjafjallajokull glacier, also in Iceland, sent plumes of ash kilometres into the atmosphere and severely affected air travel.
- with Glenda Kwek and Dan Nancarrow
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