A dramatic new image has emerged of the volcanic eruption which has disrupted air travel to and from Tonga.

Hundreds of travellers and holidaymakers have been left stranded after flights to and from Tonga were cancelled yesterday because of a huge volcanic ash cloud.

Flights between Australia and Tonga should be back up and running by Wednesday after plumes of volcanic ash above the small island nation grounded planes.

Large ash cloud from a volcano in Tonga is affecting flights in the region, with aviation authorities issuing an alert.

Divers have retrieved a black box from the crashed AirAsia flight from the bottom of the Java Sea, officials say.

58: He was a dashing English gent of Maori descent with a daring need for speed, who became the first airman to win a Victoria Cross in World War I.

A security alert is over at Melbourne’s Tullamarine Airport after a threat was directed at Tigerair Australia, forcing the evacuation of passengers from a terminal and the cancellation of flights.

Indonesian divers have said they are hopeful that the black box from doomed AirAsia flight 8501 has been located.

Skydive instructor on his escape from the plane that nosedived into Lake Taupo this week - and how he felt jumping out of a plane today.

The pilot of a skydiving plane that plunged in to Lake Taupo saw flames coming out of the aircraft's engine exhaust moments after its engine suddenly stopped.

Director of Skydive Taupo says survivors of plane crash have nothing but praise for instructors.

The type of New Zealand-built aircraft involved in yesterday's skydiving crash has never been in an accident due to a mechanical error before, its maker says.

"Exiting a plane at low altitude to get out and activate parachutes and have them open normally and land safely is amazing."

Pictures show the wreckage of flight QZ8501 lying on the bottom of the Java Sea, including what appears to be the tail fin showing the AirAsia logo.

A passenger plane travelling from Fiji to New Zealand was forced to turn around when its cabin filled with fumes and an oil smell overnight.

The pilot of a skydiving plane that crashed into Lake Taupo has been praised for quick thinking after all 13 people on board escaped without injury.

Qantas has been named the world's safest airline, and Air NZ is in the top ten, according to a new report which also noted 2014 was a bad year for airline safety.

AirAsia crash victim's family learned of their loved one's fate after being sent a selfie he featured in, taken on board flight QZ8501 as it prepared for takeoff.

A report of a light plane crash at a Northland beach was a false alarm.

New Zealand double Olympic gold medallist Valerie Adams had a scare when a plane she was on started to skid off a runway in Tonga.

Olympic gold medallist Valerie Adams escaped a possible aircraft crash after a plane she was on started skidding off a runway in Tonga.

Every day more than 8 million people travel in planes, taking around 50,000 flights. For an activity that's so commonplace, flying engenders a lot of fear and superstition.

Crash experts say doomed AirAsia flight dropped almost vertically into the water as if being thrust down by a giant hand.

A temporary break in poor weather yesterday failed to help the search for wreckage from AirAsia Flight QZ8501.

Such was the self-congratulatory tone of an industry proud of a declining trend in crashes. Just at the moment, however, there is much less cause for back-patting.

First Air, a Canadian airline flies across some of the most remote and sparsely populated areas on the continent - its planes are often beyond the reach of conventional radar.

Indonesian search officials have now confirmed they have located the fuselage of AirAsia flight 8501 on sonar radar, upside down on the sea floor.

Pilot who discovered the debris from AirAsia Flight QZ8501 describes seeing three of the bodies holding hands in the water.

Summer Herald: The Corner Office - Jetstar NZ Head, Grant Kerr. My overall business philosophy is to be honest; honest to myself and to everyone I interact with.

The search area was widened because surveillance planes could not see tiny fragments of wreckage in choppy waters. And families, once again, did not know how or why their loved ones died.