News - Stephenville International Airport

Larry Smith, manager of Stephenville Airport, said the airport wasn’t putting any plans in place on Monday related to the volcanic ash spewing out of Iceland.

Smith said he consulted with the manager of St. John’s International Airport about the situation and was told although the forecast had predicted it to be as far west as Deer Lake, that had been retracted and the indication was that no ash would be affecting the province at this time.

“However, that is subject to change as jet streams can move and cause it to be pushed this way, so we’ll keep on eye on it,” he said.

There were rumours circulating over the weekend that heavy aircraft that had landed in Stephenville, including an Illusion-76 and an Antonov-124, was due to the problem with the volcanic ash.

However, Smith said such was not the case as both aircraft alternated to Stephenville because of fog experienced in both St. John’s and Gander, which is a fairly common occurrence at this time of year.

Officials at Deer Lake Regional Airport could not be reached for comment on the volcanic ash issue as of press time.