Flights in and out of Kelowna and other B.C. airports have been stymied Friday as ash from Russia’s Shiveluch volcano limits visibility.
Phillip Elchitz, senior manager of airport operations, said they’ve had some delays with WestJet, Air Canada and Central Mountain Air, while Pacific Coastal, Flair and Alaska Airlines have had to cancel flights altogether.
Volcanic ash is sitting at an elevation of 24,000 to 35,000 feet and it is being pushed south by the jetstream from Alaska, towards the centre of B.C. and eventually into northwest Washington, he said.
“That is impacting flights along the West Coast because it’s too high to fly over and too low to fly under,” Elchitz said. “It’s not recommended aircraft fly through the ash. We are seeing this in Victoria, Seattle, Vancouver and Prince George and other west coast destinations into Kelowna.”
Volcanic interferences aren’t entirely new to the aviation industry, but Elchitz said they haven’t seen anything like this locally in the past.
While it’s unusual, it’s not expected to be a long-lasting interruption to flights.
“Environment Canada is expecting this to dissipate through the afternoon and into tomorrow morning so we are hopeful this is short-lived and flights will get back onto their schedule by the end of the day,” he said.
Passengers are encouraged to check with the airlines for the most up-to-date information.
The volcano in Russia’s far eastern region erupted early Tuesday, spewing a massive cloud of ash into the sky that blotted out the sun and smothered villages in grey volcanic dust.
The Shiveluch volcano, which is located on Russia’s northeastern Kamchatka peninsula, which juts into the Pacific Ocean, erupted around 12:54 a.m. local time and was still erupting nearly 15 hours later, according to a Telegram post from the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Geophysical Survey.