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A plume of volcanic ash rises six to 11 kilometres into the atmosphere, from a crater under about 200 metres of ice at the Eyjafjallajokull glacier in southern Iceland - Source: Reuters -
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Volcanic ash grounding flights across Europe is a worry for New Zealand exporters of perishable goods.
Exporters stand to lose a substantial amount of money if the goods don't reach market on time.
Business New Zealand spokeswoman Catherine Beard says most exports that go via airfreight are perishable, such as flowers and fruit.
She says exporters are having to think about another strategy because some goods cannot remain sitting in boxes and need to get to customers.
Beard says she will be keeping in touch with members to put a dollar figure on losses.
No-fly zone
The huge ash cloud from an Icelandic volcano has turned northern Europe into a no-fly zone, stranding hundreds of thousands of passengers.
The European air safety organisation said the disruption, the biggest seen in the region, could last another two days and a leading volcano expert said the ash could present intermittent problems to air traffic for six months if the eruption continued.
Even if the disruption, which has also affected transatlantic flights, is short lived, the financial impact on airlines could be significant, a consultant said.
The International Air Transport Association had said only days ago airlines were slowly coming out of recession.
The Association of British Insurers said volcanic eruptions were not always covered by travel insurance for cancellation and delay. But some airlines issued statements confirming they would refund fares or change flights.
"There is a big financial impact on the airlines," said John Strickland, director of air transport consultancy JLS Consulting. "We are now looking at at least a day's business wiped out for the airline business ... even if things were meteorologically fine to fly tomorrow by that time the airlines will have all their aircraft and crew out of position so they have no choice but to cancel further flights."
