VOLCANIC ASH DISRUPTS FLIGHTS

Activity in the Soufriere Hills volcano on the island of Montserrat disrupted flights in Puerto Rico on 29 December 2009. Dozens of commercial flights into and out of San Juan's Luis Munoz Marin International Airport, Aguadilla’s Rafael Hernandez Airport and Ponce’s Mercedita Airport were cancelled as a result of the ash cover, which has concentrated in a cloud at 10,000 ft/3,000 m. Thus far on 30 December, no flights have been cancelled, but additional disruptions are possible as the volcanic activity, which began several weeks ago, continues.