PAL resumes Australia flights

Philippine Airlines (PAL) on Wednesday resumed its regular service to Australia after a single cancellation Tuesday due to volcanic ash that enveloped the skies near Melbourne, PAL’s Corporate Communications Department said in a statement. The flag carrier said its PR 211 (Manila-Sydney-Melbourne) took off at 9:20 a.m. using a PAL Airbus A340 aircraft. Its 140 passengers included those supposed to take Tuesday's cancelled Melbourne-Sydney flight, the flagship carrier added. PAL cancelled its PR209 (Manila-Melbourne-Sydney) on Tuesday to ensure passenger safety after volcanic ash clouds from Chile reached some parts of Australia, including Melbourne and Sydney. Several other flights were cancelled after the volcanic cloud traveled across the Pacific from Chile’s Puyehue-Cordon Caulle volcano that erupted on June 5. Last week, experts said the ash cloud could disrupt air traffic for some time as the eruption has shown no signs of stabilizing in the near term. — PE/VS, GMA News