Ash from Chile's volcanic eruptions prompted Australian airline Qantas to ground some domestic services and some flights to New Zealand on Sunday, after plumes drifted across the Pacific. Strong winds have carried the ash clouds 9 400km across the Pacific to New Zealand since Chile's Puyehue volcano erupted more than a week ago, and they are now moving towards Australia. Qantas cancelled all flights in and out of the southeastern island of Tasmania and services from Sydney and Melbourne to and from Christchurch, Queenstown and Wellington in neighbouring New Zealand, disrupting about 1 500 passengers. An earlier flight to Auckland had gone ahead, Qantas said, but services to this city were also at risk of being suspended. The airline was expected to make another announcement later on Sunday. "We will be providing an update throughout the day to different passengers travelling tomorrow but at this stage it is only flights during today that have been impacted," Qantas spokesperson Olivia Wirth told ABC Radio
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