Oh, dang! Now flights have been cancelled to Perth. Before, Virgin had let their pilots fly below the ash cloud (geniuses), but it's shifted to 15 000 in WA and is now unavoidable. They've resumed flights to NZ, Tazzie and SA below the cloud: they were the only big domestic airline not to cancel their services to Adelaide.
Other flights to Adelaide are back online today, things in Tasmania still wishy-washy...
Qantas, especially, has been pulling out ALL their flights, saying again and again that safety comes first. "Virgin, Emirates, Cathay Pacific and Singapore Airlines are privately fuming at the Qantas decision." They think it's a publicity stunt. Personally, I'm with Virgin here, fly around the darned thing. They're even sending more planes out to help passengers stranded by other airlines!
Passengers, instead, are taking taxies. Many overjoyed drivers are being paid $1200 to drive interstate
I can't believe a volcano in Chile has caused all this trouble!
Here's the link, if any of you are interested, a live update thing on the status of flights and what the airlines are up to regarding this ash cloud. Volcanic Ash Cloud