THE VOLCANIC ash cloud which has played havoc with flight schedules across Australia has forced Hawthorn, Gold Coast and Port Adelaide to change their travel plans ahead of this weekend's matches.

The Hawks and Suns meet at Aurora Stadium on Saturday afternoon, and both will travel to Launceston by charter flight on Thursday.

Port Adelaide, which plays West Coast in Perth on Sunday evening, will travel to Western Australia by charter flight on Friday, while the AFL said it also was monitoring the situation for Fremantle, which plays Melbourne at the MCG on Sunday.

"At this stage, we don't envisage any games being affected," AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou said on Wednesday.

"We just envisage getting clubs there a day earlier [than usual]. We've got to foot the bill for an extra night's accommodation … and that's going to be an extra $30,000.

"That's fine. We've got to make sure the games go ahead."

While Perth's main airport was closed on Wednesday afternoon due to the ash cloud, Fremantle is expected to use a regular Virgin service to reach Melbourne for its game against the Demons.

"But we're in constant dialogue with Virgin, the magnificent airline that we use, who have been very accommodating and extraordinarily helpful," Demetriou said.

"It's a big issue this week because it's unusual that we have seven teams travelling on one weekend."

The AFL remains concerned that some fans might be unable to see their teams in action this weekend.

"There's no doubt it will probably disrupt supporter travelling, which will have an effect on attendances," Demetriou said.

Earlier Gold Coast's football manager Marcus Ashcroft told The Age: ''I think it could be good for us [to fly to Tasmania early]. When we've travelled this year, we've been OK. We've valued that time away together, so if we have to go early it won't bother us too much.

"We'll probably just train Friday, instead of training here before we fly out.''