An ongoing eruption at the Whakaari/White Island volcano in New Zealand led to significant air travel disruptions in the East of the North Island Bay of Plenty region on Thursday, international news outlets reported.
National carrier Air New Zealand canceled 10 flights as volcanic ash drifted across the flight paths of several domestic airports.
Rotorua Airport saw the cancellation of two outbound flights and one inbound flight, while Tauranga Airport experienced the cancellation of two outbound and two inbound flights, with at least three outbound flights facing substantial delays.
“GNS Science,” New Zealand’s geoscience research institute, identified a new vent on White Island earlier this month. The volcano has been in a minor eruption phase for several weeks, with increased ash emissions.
The situation worsened on Thursday as northerly winds carried the ash toward the mainland.
By 11:30 a.m. local time (23:30 GMT), flights in and out of Tauranga Airport had resumed normal operations.
This eruption follows a fatal explosive eruption in 2019 on the same island, which resulted in deaths and injuries of visitors and guides.
Whakaari/White Island is an active andesite stratovolcano located 48 kilometers (30 miles) off the East coast of New Zealand’s North Island in the Bay of Plenty.