Ryan versus the volcano

By Lia Bichel
THE ash plume from a volcanic eruption in Southern Chile has left one Casey resident hundreds of dollars out of pocket.
Ryan Impey, 24, had to fork out extra money for accommodation, food, and additional flights after his guys’ weekend in Adelaide was extended after his flight got cancelled.
Thousands of people were left stranded after numerous airlines suspended and cancelled hundreds of flights across Australia due to dark skies from the volcanic ash in Chile.
Mr Impey, from Narre Warren South, said that when he boarded his flight to Adelaide from Melbourne on Saturday he was unaware about the eruption in Chile. He didn’t grasp the gravity of the situation until his father called him on Sunday evening to warn him.
“He told me I may have troubles getting home. I was scheduled to fly back to Melbourne at 2pm on Monday, so I went out with my friends on Sunday and just stayed in contact with him and (my girlfriend) Nikki to see what was going on,” he said.
“Tiger didn’t cancel the flight until two hours before it was due to leave. I was able to get another flight, but that was cancelled too. I wasn’t worried, but it was all a bit of a pain.”
Mr Impey booked a hostel room for the evening and his father and Nikki tracked the situation on the internet.
“I started looking at other avenues to get home. I was going to take a bus and a train which would have been a 12-hour trip,” he said.
“Then the next morning I decided to book a flight through REX (Regional Express) from Adelaide to Mount Gambier, and then take another flight from there to Melbourne.”
Mr Impey arrived back home shortly after 1pm on Tuesday. While Tiger Airways refunded his plane ticket, Mr Impey was still out of pocket about $500 and had to take Tuesday morning off work.
He said while it was a nuisance, he respected that airlines were taking safety precautions and didn’t mind having to pay the extra money when he got to spend one more night out with his friends.
“It’s nice to be back home,” Mr Impey said, “But it was my first time in Adelaide so it was nice to stay for another day.”