Thursday's eruption of the long-dormant Dubbi volcano followed one on Sunday that led to several flight cancellations to and from Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Djibouti and Ethiopia.
Local airlines, including the national carrier Saudi Arabian Airlines (Saudia) and Nasair, have since resumed their flights to some destinations in the Horn of Africa.
"Saudia has resumed operation on this sector," said Saudia spokesman Abdullah Al-Azhar when asked about the ash cloud that clogged the skies last Sunday across several African countries, stranding hundreds of thousands of passengers in the Gulf countries.
Several flights from the Kingdom to African destinations were also suspended in the wake of the ash cloud.
The Dubbi volcano erupted Sunday night following a series of minor earthquakes, spewing ash up to 13 km into the air. The eruption was its first in 150 years. Dubbi is located 350 km south of the Eritrean capital, Asmara, and 233 km east of the Ethiopian city of Mekelle. Weather officials reported fresh eruptions Thursday.
Dubbi is thought to have last erupted in 1861.
The independent earthquake monitoring website earthquake-report.com said another nearby volcano known as Nabro was also erupting and carried testimonies from residents in the region confirming the ash cloud.
Asked about the cancellation of other flights, Waleed Mohammed Al-Sheikh, Nasair director of marketing and communications, said: "Nasair canceled two flights to Khartoum . . . but the operation is normal today." He said that the airline was keeping a watch on the situation.
More airline companies have followed Ethiopian and Lufthansa in announcing further suspensions of flights to the region. Dubai’s Emirates airline said it had canceled flights to the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa. According to Lufthansa’s website, flights from Frankfurt to Addis Ababa have been interrupted. Turkish Airlines made similar announcements.
Meanwhile, airlines continue to disagree over the safety risk posed by the volcanic ash cloud to the south of Australia. Air New Zealand, which had been boasting of its ability to keep flying while other carriers remained cautiously grounded, was forced to suspend flights to and from South Island airports late Wednesday as the ash cloud came lower.
Qantas also canceled its flights in and out of New Zealand, Tasmania and South Australia on Tuesday, but Virgin says it can safely fly its planes under the circumstances.
