Volcanic Ash cloud
Following the eruption of a volcano in Eritrea a cloud of volcanic ash has spread to other areas in Africa.
Last night the Kenya Airways flight from Nairobi was cancelled as a precaution and is due to depart today. All clients were given overnight accommodation and meals by the airline.
We have just received a report from Traveline that the CAA in Egypt has announced a state of emergency in response to the expected arrival of the ash cloud over the country. Currently we have no reports of any of our clients being affected but it is predicted that the cloud will reach Aswan, Luxor and Hurghada later today.
We are closely monitoring the situation and have customers due to fly from Luxor to Sharm el Sheikh and other customers arriving into Cairo later today.
Flights have also been disrupted in Chile, Argentina, Australia and New Zealand as the ash cloud from the volcano erupting in Chile continues to move across the globe. So far our customers in these areas are generally unaffected and any that have been affected have been rebooked or rerouted.
The Kuoni Operations team are continuing to monitor the situation and offer assistance to customers with disrupted flights.
Statement as at: 13/06/2011
A volcanic ash cloud which originated in Chile on 4 June has caused significant disruption to air travel around south-east Australia and New Zealand. Flights to/from Melbourne, Tasmania and New Zealand were cancelled on 12 and 13 June. The ash cloud is expected to continue to impact regional air travel for several more days.
To date, no Kuoni customers are affected by this situation in Australia or New Zealand.
A few Kuoni customers in Argentina and Chile have experienced delays or cancellations because of the ash cloud and all flights have been rebooked or itineraries amended.
Christchurch earthquake
An earthquake of 6.0 magnitude has hit New Zealand near Christchurch today at approximately 2.20PM local time. Six people were taken to hospital; two people were rescued from a collapsed building, and 54,000 homes lost power.
Much of the centre of the city is still sealed off due to the precarious state of many damaged buildings from four months earlier and Kuoni have been amending clients’ itineraries since then to avoid Christchurch except for transits through the airport.
Kuoni don’t have any customers in this area.
The Kuoni Operations team are continuing to monitor the situation and offer assistance to customers with disrupted flights.