MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Flights from Buenos Aires and Montevideo airports gradually begin to normalize

In Patagonia most airports are closed until next week because of the thick volcanic ash blanket

As the volcanic ash cloud begun dissipating airlines operating from the airports of Buenos Aires, Montevideo, and the south of Brazil resumed some flights Friday afternoon but it will take several days to be back to normal as companies reprogram backlogs.

Buenos Aires Ezeiza international airport and domestic hub Aeroparque gradually began dispatching flights to north and central Argentina while flights to the south remain cancelled until further notice.

Aerolineas Argentinas and Austral cancelled on Thursday over 300 flights and the companies decided to make tickets of stranded passengers valid for twelve months.

“If current meteorological conditions remain, air operations will begin to normalize to the centre and north of Argentina”, reported Argentina’s National Civil Aviation Administration. International flights to the northern hemisphere and to neighbouring Brazil also resumed.

However all flights to Patagonia: Trelew, Neuquén, Viedma, Río Gallegos, Calafate, Ushuaia, Río Grande, Comodoro Rivadavia, Bahía Blanca, Santa Rosa, San Rafael and Mar del Plata remain cancelled until next Monday.

The worst hit areas of Bariloche (which is only 100 kilometres away from the erupting Puyehue volcano), Chapelco and Esquel will remain isolated by air until Wednesday 15.

“The ash cloud hovering over Buenos Aires and the River Plate remained stagnant during most of Thursday and that is why we recommended the cancelling of all flights”, said Juan Pablo Schiavi, Argentina’s Secretary of Transport.

“This time the phenomenon was more noticeable than last Tuesday. The volcanic cloud was more direct and so was the dust concentration”, said Luis Rosso head of Argentina’s Meteorological Service. He said the slow moving cloud covered the first 6.000 metres of the atmosphere, sometimes as wide as a hundred kilometres but beginning Friday afternoon conditions started to change.

“Winds in the Puyehue volcano began blowing in a westerly direction so the cloud should be pushed over the Atlantic and that will be the end of it, hopefully”, added Rosso.

In Montevideo Carrasco international airport cancelled 110 flights in the last 24 hours but “activities resumed Friday afternoon”.

“We expect flights to normalize by next Monday, although the backlog is quite heavy”, said Laura Vanoli, head of Uruguay’s Aeronautical Meteorology Office. Flights from Santiago de Chile, Asuncion, Paraguay and Brazil have resumed.