7000 travellers stranded by ash cloud

Phones were running hot at Western Bay travel agencies this morning as travellers feared their flights would be among the thousands disrupted by ash from the Chilean volcanic eruption drifting over the country.
Air New Zealand announced this morning it may need to start cancelling flights later today as the ash continued to disrupt travel, forcing the cancellation of more than 60 Jetstar and Qantas, leaving 7000 passengers stranded.
A staff member at Tauranga's Flightworld United Travel, Shona Hill, said travel consultants arrived this morning to a backlog of emails and phone messages from clients concerned their flights this week may be cancelled and seeking advice on what to do.
"We're actually just fielding calls this morning from a whole lot of clients," she said.
Ms Hill said airlines could not predict how and over what period flights would be affected by the ash, which began sweeping over the South Island and Wellington on Saturday evening at cruising level for jet and turboprop aircraft (6000-10,000m).
"If people are travelling today, in most cases it's check in as usual and the airline will take each flight as it comes."
Travel consultant at Travelcom Greerton Nolan Moroney said by 9.15am the office had fielded four or five calls from concerned clients seeking reassurance.
"That's all we can do really, keep our fingers crossed for them and hope the ash just blows away. We're just saying keep in contact with the airline, it's a wait and see situation really."
Tauranga House of Travel owner Shane Kennedy said he would continue to run incident reports checking for those travelling into the week.
The Puyehue-Cordon Caulle volcano began erupting on June 4, with the ash plume drifting thousands of kilometres across the South Atlantic, South Africa, Indian Ocean, Tasmania and now across New Zealand.
New Zealand is particularly vulnerable to the plumes of ash because it lies on the same latitude as Chile. The westerly band of trade winds known as the Roaring Forties moves quickly, because there is little land south of 40 degrees.
These winds have pushed the ash cloud directly towards New Zealand before it has had time to diffuse.
The volcanic ash can lead to a loss of thrust or engine failure - known as "flame-out" - on planes.
The ash can also wear down engine parts and clog fuel and cooling systems.
Air New Zealand is continuing to fly, but at lower altitudes, while Jetstar and Qantas have cancelled a number of their transtasman and domestic flights as a safety measure, with all checkout counters at Auckland International Airport closed this morning.
Air NZ spokeswoman Tracy Mills said today the national carrier would continually reassess the situation.
She said the company was adjusting flight routes and altitudes to ensure aircraft remained clear of any ash.
A Qantas spokeswoman said all transtasman flights were grounded until at least midday today when the situation would be reassessed.
Jetstar has cancelled 24 domestic and international flights today, including one flight from Auckland to Singapore and one flight from Singapore to Auckland.
Civil Aviation meteorologist Peter Lechner told NZPA the cloud could be over most of the North Island by tomorrow morning, which would affect airline operations.
To people on the ground the ash particles, which were finer than house dust, would appear as high, thin cloud.
"You can imagine how much volume of air is being sucked through a jet engine, you can accrue a lot of ash, and the turbine blades are very hot so it just sticks to the blades, melts and builds up and eventually stalls the engine," he said.
The ash was at an altitude of between 20,000 and 35,000 feet.