{"id":21985,"date":"2011-06-18T22:40:24","date_gmt":"2011-06-18T20:40:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.whalecottage.com\/blog\/?p=21985"},"modified":"2011-06-20T19:13:09","modified_gmt":"2011-06-20T17:13:09","slug":"chile-ash-cloud-leads-to-cancellation-of-flights-from-cape-town","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.chrisvonulmenstein.com\/blog\/cape-town\/chile-ash-cloud-leads-to-cancellation-of-flights-from-cape-town\/","title":{"rendered":"Chile ash cloud leads to cancellation of flights from Cape Town"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>In a surprise development, with no advance warning, flights from Cape Town, Port Elizabeth and East London have been cancelled\u00a0since this afternoon\u00a0due to the ash cloud, caused by the eruption of the\u00a0Puyehue volcano in Chile, having reached the Cape. A strong cold front, driven by strong west winds ahead of a bad weather system, is\u00a0heading to the Cape.<\/p>\n

Most impressive is the media release sent\u00a0by Cape Town Routes Unlimited, at 21h14 this evening!\u00a0\u00a0 This is what\u00a0Calvyn Gilfellan, CEO of the company,\u00a0wrote:<\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

“Western Cape tourism and travel industry monitors impacts of ash cloud closely\u00a0<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/span>\u00a0<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Tourism stakeholders, led by the MEC for Finance, Economic Development and Tourism will visit the Cape Town International Airport tomorrow to assess the impact of an ash cloud over Cape Town airspace. The group will also talk to affected passengers to find it if they are comfortable and if their needs are being met.<\/em><\/span>\u00a0<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

According to the Civil Aviation Authority, the ash cloud originated from a volcano in Chile. Flights in and out of Cape Town International, Port Elizabeth and East London airports were cancelled.\u00a0<\/em><\/span>\u00a0<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Alan Winde, Finance, Economic Development and Tourism MEC, says that both South African Airways and British Airways delayed some of their flights today: \u201cI want to assure travellers that all tourism and travel industry role-players are attending to the situation and putting measures in place that will minimise the impact on travellers and the Western Cape tourism industry and we are monitoring the situation closely.\u201d<\/em><\/span>\u00a0<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Calvyn Gilfellan, Cape Town Routes Unlimited CEO, echoes these sentiments: \u201cAirports Company South Africa and the Air Traffic and Navigation Services Company are monitoring the situation very closely and will update travellers as and when new information becomes available.\u00a0 All indications are that the cloud will move past very swiftly and air traffic will return to normality.\u201d<\/em><\/span>\u00a0<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Airports Company South Africa has advised all passengers travelling within the next few days to contact their airlines in order to confirm their flight details”.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

POSTSCRIPT 19\/6:<\/span><\/strong> The flight ban over the Cape, including Cape Town, has been lifted.\u00a0 Some flights\u00a0have been delayed, due to the flight cancellations since yesterday afternoon.\u00a0<\/span> <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

POSTSCRIPT 20\/6:<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0 The following media release was sent by Cape Town Routes Unlimited today:<\/em>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Flights in and out of Cape Town International Airport [CTIA] returned to schedule today as the ash cloud created by a recent volcanic eruption in Chile passed over.\u00a0 The ash cloud forced several operators to either cancel or delay flights over the weekend.\u00a0\u00a0Western Cape Tourism Minister, Alan Winde, was informed of the possible disruption to flight schedules in the southern hemisphere two weeks ago: \u201cShortly after the Puyehue volcano erupted, the General Manager of the CTIA informed me that the ash cloud may affect flights in and out of Cape Town.\u00a0 It passed south of us the first time around, circled the globe, and entered our airspace the second time around after being pushed north by the cold front.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0The General Manager of CTIA, Deon Cloete, said: \u201cIn total, around 13 departing and 12 arriving flights were affected.\u00a0 We immediately deployed additional ground staff to assist passengers with information and to provide support to the airlines.\u00a0We also increased staff at the security check point in order to make sure people pass through quickly once the flights were back up and running.\u00a0 Through our Airport Management Centre\u2019s at the three main international airports, we ensured that all parties took decisions in a collaborative manner and were able to quickly respond as and when required.\u201d\u00a0 The airlines made every effort to alert passengers about cancelled or delayed flights, and arranged hotel accommodation for affected passengers where necessary.\u00a0\u00a0Currently there are no active warnings relating to the ash cloud, however the relevant authorities are monitoring the situation closely in the event of any alerts.\u00a0Minister Winde said: \u201cOur first priority is for the safety of travellers.\u00a0 Because it passed so quickly, and was excellently handled by the staff at the CTIA, the ash cloud will have a minimal impact on our tourism economy.\u00a0 I would like to extend my sincere thanks to Deon Cloete and all his ground staff for working around the clock this weekend to make sure that affected passengers were accommodated and comfortable \u2013 the airport operates as well during incidents as it does during major events. Operations at the airport have returned to normal and we look forward to welcoming travellers and tourists to the Western Cape.\u201d<\/span><\/em>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com<\/a>\u00a0 twitter: @WhaleCottage<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In a surprise development, with no advance warning, flights from Cape Town, Port Elizabeth and East London have been cancelled\u00a0since this afternoon\u00a0due to the ash cloud, caused by the eruption of the\u00a0Puyehue volcano in Chile, having reached the Cape. A strong cold front, driven by strong west winds ahead of a bad weather system, is\u00a0heading […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false},"categories":[3,124,22,21],"tags":[11971,11970,1317,11987,761,602,32366,1167,108,1807,32378,11968,1271,754,4051,339,11967,11969,1721,11988,32387,32373],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t