The eruption of a volcano on the island of Saint Vincent in the Caribbean is causing chaos for flights. Following four straight days of eruptions, flights to and from the island have been canceled since Friday. The large ash cloud has been moving east and is now causing disruption for other Caribbean islands.
Caribbean Airlines has announced cancellations of multiple flights. Photo: Getty ImagesMultiple eruptions
It was more than four decades ago when the volcano known as La Soufrière last erupted on the Caribbean Island of Saint Vincent on April 13th, 1979. Just days short of its anniversary, the volcano erupted again, on April 9th, 2021. The first eruption was followed swiftly by another explosion, this time sending a huge ash plume into the sky.

Capture of the second Volcanic eruption earlier today | : @MrRetail1 #StVincentAndTheGrenadines #lasoufriereeruption2021 pic.twitter.com/muimVrBxOZ
— St. Vincent & the Grenadines (@StvincentGren) April 9, 2021

Over the weekend, several smaller eruptions continued to take place, disrupting water supplies and cutting off electricity to the island. Yesterday, again, more eruptions, and more ash rising into the skies. As expected, flight activity to and from the island has ceased.

Here we go again Anniversary show#SVGEruption2021 #LaSoufriereEruption2021 pic.twitter.com/61gsHk2ju1
— yurumein (@Bequian) April 13, 2021

St Vincent’s only airport offering scheduled international flights is Argyle International. Data shows that no planes have departed or arrived since April 9th, with Sunwing Airlines’ flight to Bridgetown the last to successfully depart. Flights are currently canceled until Friday, although further cancellations could be necessary.
Images shared on social media from the day after the eruption show just how dense the ash cloud is on the island.

More photos of Agyle International Airport: SVGATC#lasoufriereeruption2021 pic.twitter.com/XxIagGIUOL
— D. Jimesha Prince (@DJimeshaPrince) April 10, 2021

Tracking flight activity
Spire Aviation, which provides global flight tracking data powered by satellites, has monitored the flight activity around the volcano, both before and after the eruption. In stark contrast to the eruption in Iceland last month, which saw many small planes and rotary aircraft arriving to view the spectacle, the Caribbean eruption has had quite the opposite effect.
Flight activity before and after the eruption. Data and graphic: Spire AviationAs can be seen, the area around the volcano showed no signs of flight activity in the aftermath of the eruption. Immediately following the event, a large ash cloud formed above Saint Vincent. Reports suggest the ash plume reached an altitude of 35,000 feet, causing disruption not just to the local flights, but to longer-haul services using that airspace too.
Spire Aviation advises Simple Flying that a total of 32 scheduled flights had been canceled by April 12th. Cancellations have affected Caribbean Airlines, Intercaribbean Airways and American Airlines.
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The problem is moving east
As the ash cloud continues to grow, it has begun to head east, darkening the skies above neighboring Barbados and causing flight chaos here too. LIAT, a local airline operating throughout the Caribbean region, advised on Monday that all flights south of Dominica have been suspended. This includes flights to and from Barbados, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and Grenada.

LIAT SUSPENDS SERVICES DUE TO VOLCANIC ACTIVITY
ST. JOHN’S, ANTIGUA April 11, 2021 – LIAT has suspended all flights in the southern part of its network as of Friday April 9, 2021 due to the volcanic activity in St. Vincent. The suspension affects all flights south of Dominica, pic.twitter.com/GI5kXdWAKU
— LIAT, The Caribbean Airline (@LIAT_1974Ltd) April 11, 2021

This morning, Caribbean Airlines advised that all flights to and from Barbados would be cancelled until at least April 18th. With La Soufrière showing no signs of quietening down yet, and the ash cloud still pushing eastwards, projections are that locations as far away as Cape Verde could be affected by the end of the week.

From Africa comes the dust of the Sahara, but now Africa will receive the ash cloud from the LaSoufriere volcano directly from the Caribbean, this is due to the westerly winds in the upper layers of the atmosphereThere are reports coming out now pic.twitter.com/dDVYgnW5ce
— Kernow Weather Team (@KWTWeather) April 13, 2021

Flights between Europe and South American will likely need to reroute to avoid the ash cloud, causing longer journeys and potential disruptions to schedules.

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