Volcanic ash cloud: thousands face flight delays and cancellations

Dense plume from Iceland’s Grímsvötn volcano drifts towards UK, prompting BA to cancel flights between London and Scotland Thousands of UK air passengers face flight cancellations as the Icelandic ash cloud closed in on Britain, threatening serious disruption to schedules. Travel plans were thrown into disarray for passengers at airports in Scotland and Northern Ireland, while even the US president, Barack Obama, was forced to amend his itinerary , flying into London earlier than planned to avoid the dense plume drifting towards the UK. Forecasters predicted the volcanic cloud, which billowed from Iceland’s Grímsvötn volcano, would reach Scotland and Northern Ireland in the coming hours, with much of the UK being covered by midday. But as a string of carriers announced cancellations, the transport secretary, Philip Hammond, said Britons had “to learn to live” with chaos caused by volcanic activity. “My understanding is that we have gone through an unusually quiet period for volcanic eruptions in Iceland over the last 20-odd years and we are moving into a period when there is likely to be significantly more volcanic activity,” he told BBC2′s Newsnight on Monday. “So this is clearly something we have got to learn to plan around. We have got to learn to live with it.” Hammond said that since last year’s eruption the authorities had gained a “much better understanding” of the risk from ash clouds and are able to assess the thickness of different patches as well as the possibility of flying over or below a cloud. “Most importantly, the basic situation now is that the threshold for most aircraft is 20 times where it was last year. We have got from 200 microgrammes per cubic metre to 4,000 microgrammes per cubic metre as the threshold up to which most aircraft can fly. What we can’t promise is that there won’t be disruption when there is a major natural event like this.” Met Office forecaster Charles Powell said the plume could hit parts of Scotland between 1am and 7am and large swaths of Britain by lunchtime. “This area of ash will start to make its presence felt across parts of Scotland and Northern Ireland and by midday I think much of the UK will be covered,” he said. Responding to warnings, British Airways announced it would not operate any flights between London and Scotland before 2pm. Only last year, the airline’s then chief executive, Willie Walsh, criticised airport closures and said blanket bans imposed on flying were “a gross overreaction to a very minor risk”. Meanwhile, Ryanair bosses said they would meet Irish officials today in a bid to have flight restrictions lifted. The airline said it strongly objected to advice from the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) not to operate flights to and from Glasgow, Prestwick, Edinburgh or Aberdeen until at least 1pm. “Ryanair believe that there is no safety risk to aircraft on fights operating to and from Scotland and together with other airlines will be complaining to the transport minister and regulatory authorities about these latest and unnecessary cancellations.” Dutch airline KLM said 16 flights scheduled to and from Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen, and Newcastle would be cancelled, while Eastern Airways, based in Kirmington, north Lincolnshire, axed all flights and easyJet grounded some planes. Glasgow-based carrier Loganair – which operates most of its services within Scotland – said it had scrapped 36 flights due to depart between 6am and 1pm. This excluded its inter-isles flights in Orkney. Some of its flights to Birmingham and Belfast were also cancelled. Aer Lingus said it had cancelled 12 flights to and from Glasgow, Dublin, Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Shannon and Cork. Air traffic control company Nats advised passengers to check with their airline before travelling to Scottish aerodromes including Aberdeen, Inverness, Benbecula, Barra and Tiree. Football club Barcelona saw its travel plans thrown into disarray ahead of the Champions League final against Manchester United at Wembley on Saturday. The Catalan club will wait for today’s forecast before deciding when players will travel to London for the game. Hammond said the situation would be monitored continuously, in conjunction with the Met Office. A CAA spokesman said: “We are in a totally different world as far as procedures go now compared with last year. “If we have the same level of ash as we did last year, there will not be the same problem. Airspace will not be closed and we will notify airlines when the Met Office predicts there are medium or high levels of ash present,” the spokesman said. “If an airline has done a risk assessment as to how it will fly safely in medium or high ash levels and has liaised with aircraft manufacturers and engine makers, then they will be able to fly if the CAA considers it acceptable. No UK airline has applied to fly in high-density ash, but a number have applied for, and been given, permission for flying in medium ash.” Iceland volcano 2011 (Grimsvotn) Natural disasters and extreme weather Air transport Transport Iceland Airline industry Weather Transport policy guardian.co.uk

Posted by on May 24, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.