Volcanic ash disruptions spread to Adelaide

While the bulk of the ash plume remains to the south of the Australian mainland, Tasmania, Adelaide and parts of New Zealand remain ash affected late today.

Melbourne was also affected by fog this morning with a number of international services diverting to Sydney. Volcanic ash which affected flights into Melbourne yesterday has now dissipated.

Ash above Tasmania and Adelaide is between 26,000ft and 36,000ft (around 8-11km). It is not forecast to move significantly in the next 24 hours.

However ash currently to the south-west of the Australian mainland and a large concentration of ash south of Madagascar could impact Australian airspace over the next week.

Airservices Australia is closely monitoring the progress of ash through Australian airspace with the assistance of the Bureau of Meteorologys Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre (VAAC) in Darwin.

Airservices traffic management officers in our National Operations Centre are continuing to work with airlines to minimise disruptions wherever possible.

Decisions on when and where flights will operate are made by individual airlines and operators, with monitoring by the Civil Aviation Safety Authority.

No airports are expected to close.

Airservices air traffic management surveillance systems and air traffic control operations are unaffected by the ash cloud and we are providing full services to all operating aircraft.

For more information:
Bureau of Meteorology VAAC: link
Airservices Australia network status update: link

Audio grabs for radio/TV available at: link 
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