Bogota, (Samajweekly) The direction of flights to and from the Colombian capital of Bogota will be modified due to smoke from the Nevado del Ruiz volcano and it may cause delays, the state-run Civil Aviation Authority announced.
“Because of the smoke from the Nevado del Ruiz volcano reaching 27,000 feet high, the Civil Aviation Authority informs that air traffic to and from Bogota, and from southern and western parts of the country, will be redirected,” Xinhua news agency quoted the Authority as saying in a tweet.
The agency also said that itineraries may be affected, so it asked travellers to contact their respective airlines for more information.
“The Civil Aviation Authority, along with operators, are working in coordination to minimise the impact that this natural phenomenon may have for the safety of air operations and service to users,” it said.
The Nevado del Ruiz is a volcano on the border of the departments of Caldas and Tolima in Colombia, about 129 km west of Bogota.
On November 13, 1985, a small eruption produced an enormous lava flow that buried and destroyed the town of Armero in Tolima, causing an estimated 25,000 deaths.
The volcano continues to pose a threat to the nearby towns and villages, and it is estimated that up to 500,000 people could be at risk from future eruptions.
