Chile and "The Ash"!

Qantas and Virgin have cancelled flights to and from

South Australia. (AFP: Tony Ashby, file photo)

The Ash Cloud is back!!!! (Australian Broadcasting Corporation News link)

The MODIS instrument on NASA's Terra satellite captured a visible image of the ash plume from the eruption of Chile's Puyehue-Cordon Caulle volcano chain spreading across South America on June 13 , 2011. The wind shifted from the day before and was now blowing from the west and southwest, pushing the plume east and northeast. (Reuters/NASA Goddard/MODIS Rapid Response, Jeff Schmaltz)

The travel plans of more than 10,000 people have been thrown into complete disarray as the lingering Chilean volcanic ash cloud moves over the east coast of Australia.

The ash cloud has already forced the cancellation of all domestic flights into and out of Adelaide for the day, with Sydney and Canberra flights now set to be grounded beginning from midday (AEST).

With Sydney - Australia's largest airport - now affected, a Virgin spokeswoman said the number of travellers grounded would likely be in excess of 10,000 people.

Qantas has announced all Canberra and Sydney flights will be stopped from midday (AEST) and 3:00pm respectively, as the ash from the eruption of Chile's Mt Puyehue Cordon Caulle volcano continues to push east.

A concentrated plume of ash from Chile's Puyehue volcano appears a world away (horizontal strip across middle), suspended in the atmosphere between 20,000 and 35,000 feet (6 to 11 kilometers) above above Australia and New Zealand. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on the Aqua satellite acquired this image on June 13, 2011. ASA/Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC)

 
Ash and gases billow through low clouds after an eruption of the Puyehue-Cordon Caulle volcano in Chile, seen from Cardenal Samore, Chile, near the border with Argentina, on Wednesday June 15, 2011. (AP Photo/Alvaro Vidal)