The ongoing volcanic activity at Mt. Mayon in Albay is hampering flight operations at Godofredo P. Ramos Airport, or Caticlan Airport, due to concerns over the effects of the volcano’s ash cloud to aircraft.

In a video recently released by Cebu Pacific Air, flight expert, Captain Lorenz Gonzales, cited data from the Tokyo-based Volcanic Ash Advisory Center (VAAC), which allows them to determine the direction of ash clouds, a component in determining whether a flight can take off or not.

“We cannot fly into the [ash] clouds because it is a big safety risk,” he said.

Gonzales added, the volcanic ash ejected into the atmosphere during eruptions are hazardous to aircraft, as the particles are known to clog and damage plane engines. Ash can also erode forward-facing surfaces, including windscreens and fuselage surfaces.

In terms of Caticlan Airport, flights have been rescheduled or cancelled as winds have pushed ash clouds as far away as Marinduque, northern Aklan, and Busuanga in Palawan.

Since January 22, 48 flights bound for Legazpi City have been cancelled.

As of press time, the VAAC has not released any warning over other areas in Western Visayas and operations at the Bacolod-Silay Airport in Negros Occidental remain normal throughout the day./DGB, WDJ