Cars are covered with volcanic dust after the Shiveluch volcano erupted in Klyuchi settlement of Kamchatka Peninsula, Russia, on April 11, 2023. (Image source: Official page of Oleg Bondarenko, Head of the Ust-Kamchatsky municipal district/Handout via Reuters)
Due to ash from a Russian volcano that erupted thousands of kilometers away, some regional flights to and from Prince Rupert and Terrace in British Columbia have been canceled.
Air Canada says it is monitoring the ash cloud from the Shiveluch volcano, which caused the cancellation of some of its regional flights on Thursday. Depending on the direction of the ash cloud, more schedule adjustments could occur.
The Shiveluch volcano, located about 4,300 kilometers west of Terrace on Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula, erupted on Tuesday and released an ash cloud 10 kilometers high. As volcanic ash can cause a jet engine to shut down, Alaska Airlines has also canceled more than two dozen flights in the state citing safety concerns.
The manager of Northwest Regional Airport in Terrace-Kitimat, Carman Hendry, has said that WestJet has also canceled flights into the airport because the planes would have to fly through the ash. Hendry is uncertain how many flights will be affected, but the airport is not expecting any more incoming flights for the rest of the day.
He said in an interview on Thursday, “Better down here wishing you were up there than up there wishing they were down here.”