MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Lan resumes flights to center and extreme south of Chile

Lan Chile and Sky Airlines resumed flights on Thursday to the south of Chile which earlier this week had to be suspended because of the high ash concentration in the atmosphere originated in the eruption of the Chaitén volcano.

Air Comet another carrier operating in the south of Chile, announced flights to Puerto Montt and Temuco remain stand by until conditions improve but those to Punta Arenas and Balmaceda are normal. Earlier this week Chile's Meteorological Service which depends from the Civil Aeronautics Office, DGAC, reported a high concentration of volcanic ash in the center south of Chile and airlines were instructed to cancel all night flights to or over the area. According to DGAC between today and Friday an assessment of the situation will be made to either maintain or lift the ban on night flights, "a decision which will be timely notified to the involved airlines so they can inform their passengers of the situation". Volcanic ashes are particularly damaging for air turbines, be in during flights or while the aircraft is grounded because of the potential contamination of engines. DGAC announced that it will continue with its daily monitoring of atmospheric conditions with the purpose of ensuring flight safety and of passengers. Chaitén volcano has been erupting for weeks and ash fumes reached over ten kilometers high before been dispersed by the wind to neighboring Argentina and the South Atlantic. All people and livestock in a radius of twenty kilometers were evacuated.