Japan volcano eruption hits flights

This handout picture taken by Fukuoka Local Meteorological Observatory on November 26, 2014 and released by Japan Meteorological Agency on November 27 shows smoke rising from Mount Aso at Kumamoto on Japan's southern island of Kyushu. -AFP

TOKYO: Flights in Japan were cancelled or diverted on Thursday to avoid a cloud of ash and smoke spewing from an erupting volcano in the south.

Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways warned passengers of “a number of cancellations and changed destinations” on routes involving Kumamoto airport because of the 800-metre (2,600-foot) column of debris from Mount Aso.