Volcanic ash from Whakaari/White Island halts flights

By RNZ

An eruption on Whakaari/White Island is causing flight delays.

At least 10 flights were cancelled and three delayed from Tauranga and Rotorua airports on Thursday morning.

GNS was currently investigating.

Last week a new vent detected on Whakaari/White Island, which has been experiencing a minor eruption, was emitting an increase in volcanic ash.

It said last week a new vent detected on Whakaari/White Island, which has been experiencing a minor eruption, was emitting an increase in volcanic ash.

Images showed the column of ash growing considerably in size in the two hours to 8am.

Air New Zealand said volcanic ash was across the flight path for both airports.

It said it would continue to monitor the ash cloud, and said any other customers on flights should keep an eye on the Air NZ app in case there were other routes affected.

Air New Zealand’s chief operational integrity and safety officer Captain David Morgan said the airline was continuing to monitor the movement of the ash.

“The safety of our people and our customers is our utmost priority.”

Correction: An earlier version of this story said black ash was washing up on Papmoa Beach, it was not ash but a natural occurrence where sand has eroded.

- RNZ