Europe air travel a volcanic mess
Source: Agencies |
April 17, 2010, Saturday
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Print Edition
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AS the Icelandic volcanic eruption closed airspace over Europe, German soldiers wounded in Afghanistan couldn't get home, Europe-bound tulips risk wilting in Kenyan airports, and express mail lumbers overland instead of by air.
US President Barack Obama is wondering whether he can make it to Poland for a presidential funeral and royals can't get to the birthday bash of the Danish queen.
It's as if an international conveyer belt has abruptly ground to a halt, all because of a cloud of dust high up in the sky, hurting businesses, governments and ordinary travelers in a world increasingly dependent on the freedom to move around far and fast.
Volcanic ash sifted down on parts of northern Europe yesterday and thousands of planes stayed on the tarmac to avoid the hazardous cloud. Travel chaos engulfed major European cities and the UN warned of possible health risks from falling ash.
Eurocontrol, the European air traffic agency, said the travel disruptions that reverberated throughout the world on Thursday were even worse yesterday, with about 11,000 flights expected to operate in Europe instead of the usual 28,000. It said delays will continue well into today as the massive yet invisible ash cloud moves slowly south and east.
"There will be significant disruption of air traffic tomorrow," spokesman Brian Flynn said, adding the agency would hold a meeting on Monday of aviation officials from all 40 Eurocontrol countries.
About 60 flights between Asia and Europe were canceled yesterday.
Polish officials fretted that the ash cloud could threaten the arrival of world leaders for Sunday's state funeral of President Lech Kaczynski and his wife in the southern city of Krakow. Kaczynski's family insisted yesterday they wanted the funeral to go forward as planned.
Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg purchased an iPad while in New York earlier this week and found it a useful tool for remotely governing his nation while stranded in the United States.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel was managing Europe's biggest economy by remote control yesterday from Portugal, after her plane home from the United States was diverted to Lisbon. The government said the plane won't be able to continue its journey until lunchtime today.
Train stations, hotels and car rental agencies were jammed in key European cities by people scrambling to make alternative plans. Extra long-distance trains were put on in Amsterdam and lines to buy train tickets were so long the train company was handing out free coffee.
Aviation experts said it was among the worst disruptions Europe has ever seen.
Ice chunks the size of houses tumbled down from a volcano beneath Iceland's Eyjafjallajokull glacier on Thursday as hot gases melted the ice. The volcano began erupting on Wednesday for the second time in less than a month.
As torrents of water roared down the steep slopes of the volcano, flash floods washed away chunks of Iceland's main ring road.
The cloud of basalt, drifting between 6,000 to 9,000 meters high and invisible from the ground, at first blocked the main air flight path between the US east coast and Europe. Yesterday, the cloud's trajectory was taking it over northern France and Austria and into Russia at about 40 kilometers per hour.
US President Barack Obama is wondering whether he can make it to Poland for a presidential funeral and royals can't get to the birthday bash of the Danish queen.
It's as if an international conveyer belt has abruptly ground to a halt, all because of a cloud of dust high up in the sky, hurting businesses, governments and ordinary travelers in a world increasingly dependent on the freedom to move around far and fast.
Volcanic ash sifted down on parts of northern Europe yesterday and thousands of planes stayed on the tarmac to avoid the hazardous cloud. Travel chaos engulfed major European cities and the UN warned of possible health risks from falling ash.
Eurocontrol, the European air traffic agency, said the travel disruptions that reverberated throughout the world on Thursday were even worse yesterday, with about 11,000 flights expected to operate in Europe instead of the usual 28,000. It said delays will continue well into today as the massive yet invisible ash cloud moves slowly south and east.
"There will be significant disruption of air traffic tomorrow," spokesman Brian Flynn said, adding the agency would hold a meeting on Monday of aviation officials from all 40 Eurocontrol countries.
About 60 flights between Asia and Europe were canceled yesterday.
Polish officials fretted that the ash cloud could threaten the arrival of world leaders for Sunday's state funeral of President Lech Kaczynski and his wife in the southern city of Krakow. Kaczynski's family insisted yesterday they wanted the funeral to go forward as planned.
Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg purchased an iPad while in New York earlier this week and found it a useful tool for remotely governing his nation while stranded in the United States.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel was managing Europe's biggest economy by remote control yesterday from Portugal, after her plane home from the United States was diverted to Lisbon. The government said the plane won't be able to continue its journey until lunchtime today.
Train stations, hotels and car rental agencies were jammed in key European cities by people scrambling to make alternative plans. Extra long-distance trains were put on in Amsterdam and lines to buy train tickets were so long the train company was handing out free coffee.
Aviation experts said it was among the worst disruptions Europe has ever seen.
Ice chunks the size of houses tumbled down from a volcano beneath Iceland's Eyjafjallajokull glacier on Thursday as hot gases melted the ice. The volcano began erupting on Wednesday for the second time in less than a month.
As torrents of water roared down the steep slopes of the volcano, flash floods washed away chunks of Iceland's main ring road.
The cloud of basalt, drifting between 6,000 to 9,000 meters high and invisible from the ground, at first blocked the main air flight path between the US east coast and Europe. Yesterday, the cloud's trajectory was taking it over northern France and Austria and into Russia at about 40 kilometers per hour.
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