Flight chaos as Qantas, Virgin cancel more flights due to ash cloud

The domestic travel industry has been thrown into chaos with Qantas announcing more flights will be cancelled tomorrow, while AirServices Australia has warned major airports could be disrupted over the next 24-48 hours due to the volcanic ash sweeping across the country from South America.

The announcement only serves to exacerbate the troubles facing major airlines Qantas, Virgin and Tiger, which have all delayed and suspended flights already.

Qantas has announced on Twitter that all Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra flights will be cancelled tomorrow, while all other domestic flights will continue as normal. Inernational services arriving into Sydney and Melbourne will be delayed, including New Zealand flights – arrivals are expected on Thursday.

Qantas had already said flights to and from Adelaide, Canberra and Sydney will all be cancelled for the remainder of the day, along with flights to and from Port Lincoln.

Tiger Airways has already announced its fleet will be grounded for the remainder of the day.

Virgin has already announced that flights to and from Sydney and Melbourne will be cancelled from 4pm today, but has since said that all flights to and from Adelaide, Mildura and Canberra will be cancelled as well.

Brisbane flights have been cancelled as well, along with flights from the Gold Coast, Perth and Rockahmpton.

“AirServices is closely monitoring a very large body of ash now moving across south- eastern Australia which will cause major disruptions in the next 20 to 48 hours,” AirServices spokesperson Matthew Wardell said this morning.

This article first appeared on SmartCompany.