Australia's ash cloud woes, by the numbers
(Read article summary)The ash cloud from the June 4 eruption of a Chilean volcano is drifting over Australia for a second time, grounding flights and further choking tourism and airline industries that are already suffering.
An ash cloud from the June 4 eruption of Chile's Puyehue-Cordon Caulle volcanic complex is making a second lap around the globe, crossing Australian airspace today after disrupting travel to and from Australia and New Zealand for six days last week.
Flights are grounded because the ash is capable of damaging the airplanes' engines.
Although the country's tourism industry has declined to give a speculative figure for the losses, an industry group told Xinhua that Australia's tourism industry is losing at least 10.5 million US dollars a day as a result of the grounded flights.
The industry has already suffered from rising fuel costs and travel problems caused by floods in Queensland and the tsunami and earthquake in Japan earlier this year, as The Wall Street Journal reports.
IN PICTURES: Chile's Puyehue volcano erupts
Australia's Courier-Mail reports that the airline industry is losing more than 30 million US dollars a day, coming on top of more than $40 million last week.
