Volcanic ash stops international flights to Tonga - MATANGI TONGA 13 JANUARY 2015. All international flights in and out of Tonga were cancelled starting yesterday Monday, 12 January due to rising ash coming from the volcanic activity, which is continuing from a sumbmarine vent close to Hunga Ha’apai to the north west of Tongathat has spread over hundreds of kilometers in the atmosphere above the Tongatapu region. The three airlines Air New Zealand, Pacific Blue and Fiji Airways yesterday and today cancelled their flights to Tonga. The Air New Zealand agent in Nuku’alofa confirmed this afternoon that one flight from Auckland was cancelled yesterday and again today. Flight NZ970 that was due to arrive in Tonga at 1:10pm was diverted to Samoa due to the ash forecasting. Fiji Airways also cancelled a flight from Nadi today. A flight which left Suva on its way to Tonga yesterday also had to turn back to Fiji after receiving advisory of the volcanic activity. Pacific Blue also cancelled flights yesterday and today. It is understood that the resumption of international flights will depend on the situation of the volcanic activity. In the meantime, Tonga’s sole domestic carrier Real Tonga confirmed this morning that none of its flights were cancelled yesterday, and its domestic flights today were on schedule to fly today. Volcanic Activity advisory Tonga’s Ministry of Land and Natural Resource yesterday issued an advisory of Volcanic ash emissions yesterday, January 12, for the Hunga Ha’apai-Hunga Tonga region. “The volcanic ash was forecasted to cover the Tongatapu Island group at 4:30pm today 12th January 2015 extending 70km north, 80km south (150km NS spread) and 310km east from Nuku’alofa floating at 16,000ft at 10NM. It is expected to maintain coverage over Tongatapu region up to 115km north, 180km south (295km NS spread) and 580km east of Nuku’alofa at 3:30am (tomorrow) 13 January 2015.” The advisory was based on information provided by Tonga Airport Limited, Tonga Meteorological Services, GNS-NZ, and NZ-Meteorological Services. “Pilots of aircrafts flying near the concerned area described eruption of smoke and ash coming out of a group of three islands. This is interpreted as the three islands consisting of two obvious islands which are the Hungas’ and the third is the vent towards Tongatapu initially reported by the Fishermen on 20th December 2014 (Fig.1) located approximately 65km NW of Vuna Wharf, Nuku’alofa, and ~70km SW of Nomuka Island,” the advisory stated. “The Ministry of Health should be advised to watch for any anomalies in cases of respiratory problems, eye symptoms, and skin irritation that may be due to ash falls.” The public are encouraged to report to the Geology Office of the Ministry any unusual events suspected to be related to volcanic ash. Previous volcanic activity at the submarine vent was recorded in 1912, 1937, 1959, 1988 and in December 2014. The site is characterized with fumaroles, smoke and steam, bubbling gases and churning waters. The vent is located about 3km south of Hunga Tonga and 3.2km southeast of Hunga Ha’apai, which erupted explosively and formed a new island in 2009. IMAGE: Location of the volcanic eruption at Hunga Ha’apai and Hunga Tonga. 12 January 2014. Source: Tonga Ministry of Land and Natural Resources. IMAGE: Location of the volcanic eruption at Hunga Ha’apai and Hunga Tonga. 12 January 2014. Source: Tonga Ministry of Land and Natural Resources. matangitonga.to/2015/01/13/volcanic-ash-stops-international-flights-tonga
Posted on: Tue, 13 Jan 2015 08:51:19 +0000
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