Travel Misery As Ash Grounds Australia, N.Z. Flights

Tens of thousands of people were stranded Monday, a day after ash from Chile's volcanic eruptions prompted Australian airlines to ground some domestic services and flights to New Zealand.

Strong winds have carried the ash clouds 9,400 kilometres (5,800 miles) across the Pacific Ocean to New Zealand and southern Australia since Chile's Puyehue volcano erupted more than a week ago.

National carrier Qantas on Sunday cancelled all flights to and from the southeastern island of Tasmania and all flights to and from Christchurch, Queenstown and Wellington in neighbouring New Zealand.

It then extended the groundings to all flights to and from the southern Australian city of Melbourne and those to and from New Zealand's Auckland.

The Australian Associated Press (AAP) news agency said about 30,000 airline passengers were affected by cancellations in total, but there was some light relief Monday when Virgin Australia said it would resume some flights.

"Overnight we have been monitoring closely the situation and we now believe that conditions are safe to operate," Virgin Australia's Sean Donohue was quoted saying in a statement.

Qantas would reassess the situation early Monday, AAP said.

"We believe that it's absolutely the right thing to ground these services. We will put them back up in the air as soon as possible but it's a safety first approach for our customers," Qantas spokeswoman Olivia Wirth told ABC radio.

Qantas said it took the precautionary measure until it knew more about the density of the cloud and its possible impact on aircraft.

The airline's offshoot Jetstar has also grounded flights for Tasmania and New Zealand, as well as some flights within New Zealand.

Air New Zealand has said it will adjust flight routes and altitudes to avoid the plumes, which New Zealand's Civil Aviation Authority has warned will be at 20,000-30,000 feet, the cruising altitude for both jet and turboprop aircraft.

The authority said Saturday New Zealand airspace might be affected for at least a week, given that the volcano was still erupting.

With thousands of passengers stranded on both sides of the Tasman Sea, Air Services Australia said the cloud affect air traffic for the next few days.

Andrew Tupper, head of Australia's Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre, said he expected the ash cloud to move towards Australia's east coast, although the plumes were breaking apart.

"It's got a very strong satellite signal and it's right up there with the big, big eruption clouds," he said.

"It will keep going. I would suspect it will do a loop of the globe."

- By Agence France-Presse