UA and AA suspend flights to Argentina
 

Due to volcanic ash at high altitudes, both UA and AA have suspended all flights to/from Argentina until further notice. The Chaitén volcano is still in an eruptive stage, and ash is present between 20-25K ft north of BsAs.

Flight operations of LAN and AR have been severely affected domestically as well.

http://www.lanacion.com.ar/informaci...04531&toi=5812

I suspect other international airlines will also follow suit.

John

I am just in from taking the dog for a walk and I saw that every parked car has a fine film of grey dust covering them.

Not sure if it has anything to do with the ash plume or it's just a coincidence. :confused:

I'm sure it's just a coincidence. :rolleyes:

Satellite images show an impressive plume and ash covering a huge area of Argentina.

At this moment, neither American nor United websites show any disruptions to scheduled service to EZE...

not quite..... flights to/from ord suspended 5/9/08

Current situation May 9 - not looking brilliant
 

I am scheduled to fly SFO-ORD-EZE Tuesday May 13 and return on May 20 - so I am keeping an eye on this issue:

Bs As Herald says

"Airlines cancel flights
The ashes from the Chaitén volcano in Chile fell on Esquel, Chubut, again yesterday, but Buenos Aires City government sources said the ashes are not going to fall in BA, at least in the coming 48 hours.

American Airlines announced it was cancelling all takeoffs from Ezeiza bound for the US while Austral and Aerolíneas Argentinas cancelled all flights because of poor visibility."

La Nación says (1045 this morning local time) "American y United Airlines suspendieron los servicios que debían arribar esta mañana a Ezeiza / American and United Airlines cancelled their arrivals scheduled for this morning at Ezeiza."

"La presencia de cenizas en la ciudad no había sido prevista originalmente y sólo se pensaba que afectarían al sur de la provincia de Buenos Aires. Pero ayer, luego del mediodía, el fenómeno se tornó visible sobre la Capital como una ligera bruma que volvió gris el cielo. and

La nube de cenizas, que también afecta a La Pampa, Río Negro, Neuquén y Chubut, recrudeció ayer al producirse una nueva erupción del volcán."

(The presence of ashes in the city had not been expected originally and it was believed they would only affect south of the province of Buenos Aires. But yesterday (Thursday,) around noon, the phenomenon became visible as a light haze that turned the skies gray.

The ash cloud, which also affects La Pampa, Río Negro, Nequén and Chubut, worsened yesterday after a new eruption of the volcano (Chaitén.)

Reuters shows this NASA satellite map showing the extent of the ash plume.

Continued eruption and winds from the west will probably continue to cause problems.

Volcán Chaitén is located at Lat -42.83771000 Long -72.64932600.

Link to ReliefWeb PDF with maps, etc.

Link to maps (Google, Yahoo! etc.)

According to AA.com, the EZE-JFK flight has just departed as normal and the DFW departure is shown as on time although the daily flight to ORD was cancelled. Looks like things are moving again although it could still be hit and miss until the volcanic activity calms down or the winds change. Definitely not an indefinite suspension of flights though fortunately.

All AA flights TO EZE (ORD, JFK, DFW and two from MIA) flew May 9 and arrived May 9.

OTOH, La Nación says, in this article today, part:

Las cenizas del volcán chileno Chaitén, que ayer siguieron presentes en cinco provincias argentinas y en la Capital, podrían ampliar hoy su influencia, ya que ciertos informes meteorológicos anticipan que la nube gris que viene asolando a buena parte de la Patagonia desde el viernes de la semana pasada alcanzaría a San Luis y a Mendoza, al igual que a la República Oriental del Uruguay.

The ashes from the Chilean Chaitén volcano present yesterday in five provinces and in the Capital, could extend their influence today, since according to meteorological reports the grey cloud that shaded a goodly part of Patagonia since last Friday is likely to reach San Luís and Menodoza, as ell as the Oriental Republic of Uruguay.

En tanto, según informaron voceros de Aeropuertos Argentina 2000, ayer, la presencia de las partículas volcánicas volvió a provocar cancelación de vuelos de cabotaje a Bariloche, Neuquén, Puerto Madryn, Trelew, Bahía Blanca y Mar del Plata, como también la anulación de salidas y llegadas a y desde Montevideo.

According to the public information offices of Argentina Airports 2000, yesterday the presence of volcanic particles once more caused cancellations of domestic flights to Bariloche, Neuquén, Puerto Madryn, Bahia Blanca and Mar del Plata, as well as causing the cancellation of all departures and arrivals to and from Montevideo.

Por el contrario, el Aeropuerto Internacional de Ezeiza operó normalmente, ya que las compañías American Airlines y United Airlines retomaron sus servicios a los Estados Unidos, que habían decidido suspender anteayer. Sólo por la mañana no salieron los viajes cancelados desde el día anterior, pero a partir del mediodía ambas empresas comenzaron a transportar pasajeros.

On the other hand, the International Airport at Ezeiza (EZE) operated normally, since American Airlines and United Airlines resumed their services to the United States, which they had suspended day before yesterday. Flights cancelled the previous day did not depart in the morning, but as of noon both airlines began to transport passengers.

In the end, it's all about the prevailing winds and the continuation of Chaitén's eruption (the latter shows no signs of diminishing at the moment.)

As a side order of disorder, Austral has cancelled ~60% of today's domestic flights as a result of a pilot strike, and expects to do so again tomorrow.

I can imagine the near disaster of 1982 involving a BA plane and volcanos may be influencing the AA & United head honchos.

Interesting to read about ashes extending their influence!:)