ANCHORAGE – The eruption of the Augustine volcano last week has sent ash clouds and steam over 40,000 ft. high in the Anchorage skies and has grounded cargo planes that use the the Alaska gateway.

The Augustine volcano erupted Jan. 27 and 28, spewing smoke and ash for miles. The volcano is located 180 miles southwest of Anchorage.

The eruption has caused air carriers to cancel flights from Asia and limit freight activity, and in some cases raise shipping rates.
Japan Air Lines has grounded all U.S. bound cargo until Feb. 6. The airline is concerned that backlogs accumulating in Japan and Anchorage will not be cleared until this weekend, provided the volcanic activity does not get worse.

Air Nippon will only accept bulk cargo.

Nippon Cargo Airlines has cancelled all flights from Hong Kong until Feb. 5. The carrier has advised that it may stop taking bookings if backlogs are not cleared within the next few days.

Northwest will only accept bookings subject to current flight conditions and it will not guarantee transit times.

Korean Air, Asiana Airlines, Eva Air and China Airlines are reporting serious backlogs and will not accept any large bookings or guarantee transit times.

Carriers are also reportedly boosting rates in response to the high level of congestion.

Apparently the impact of the volcano is being exacerbated by large volumes of plasma TV shipments out of Japan to the U.S.

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