Several airlines yesterday cancelled flights in and out of Buenos Aires due to an ash cloud spewing from a volcano in neighbouring Chile, officials said.

“All flights by Aerolineas Argentinas and Austral have been cancelled until midday,” an airport official said as Argentina marks the Copa America competition which has been drawing thousands of football fans. Seven international arrivals and nine departures from abroad were also shelved due to Chile’s Puyehue volcano which has caused havoc for air travel and tourism since it erupted in early June for the first time in five decades.

“The airports are operational, but the companies can decide to cancel flights because of the ash,” the official added.

An Air France flight which had been due to land at Ezeiza international airport in the Argentine capital yesterday was diverted to the Guarulhos airport in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Airports in the resort town of Bariloche and the Patagonian hub Neuquen have remained closed since June 4 after winds spread the volcanic ash across much of southern Argentina, intermittently grounding commercial flights and airports in and around the country’s capital.

Flights from airports across South America - including hubs in Montevideo, the Chilean capital Santiago and southern Brazilian cities - have also been hit as ash clouds swept around the Southern Hemisphere to linger over Australia and New Zealand. Argentina is currently playing host to the Copa America – the world’s oldest international football tournament dating back to 1916 – which has been dubbed a continental finishing school for the World Cup.