Chile volcanic ash again halts Argentina flights

BUENOS AIRES: Ash from Chile's Puyehue volcano disrupted air traffic in the capital of Argentina on Wednesday for a second straight day, a spokesman for the airport authority said.

In Buenos Aires, flights in and out of the mainly domestic service airport Aeroparque were canceled, though service at the international airport Ezeiza had resumed, said a spokesman with Aeropuertos 2000.

"Flights in and out of Aeroparque are suspended until further notice. At Ezeiza, everything is running normally," the spokesman told AFP.

In neighboring Uruguay, air traffic was back to normal at Carrasco international airport in the capital Montevideo, after dozens of flights were canceled or delayed on Tuesday, airport and airline officials said.

The Puyehue volcano has been causing air travel mayhem since it rumbled back to life on June 4 for the first time in five decades, belching into the air billowing clouds of dust and ash.

Flights across South America -- including from hubs in Montevideo, Chile's capital city Santiago and southern Brazil -- have all been hit as ash clouds swept around the southern hemisphere to linger over Australia and New Zealand.

The Puyehue volcano is high in the Andes mountains, 870 kilometers (540 miles) south of Santiago near the border with Argentina.

Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2011