Plume of volcanic ash again closes airports across Europe
Source: Agencies |
May 10, 2010, Monday
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A plume of volcanic ash snaked its way through southern France, Switzerland, Italy and Germany yesterday, shutting down airports and disrupting flights across Europe.
Trans-Atlantic connections were also being diverted around a larger patch of cloud stretching from southern Greenland to the coast of Portugal, adding several hours to flights between Europe and North America and causing congestion as airlines tried to squeeze their planes through remaining routes.
Weather forecasts said the ash cloud hovering over the continent will gradually dissipate as it spreads to southern parts of Germany, the Czech Republic and Austria overnight. With Iceland volcanic eruptions weakening, the plume in the mid-Atlantic was also slowly clearing.
"We're expecting rain to thin the cloud, leaving only a small band left by Monday morning," said Daniel Gerstgrasser, meteorologist with Switzerland's national weather agency. No further ash drifts are expected to reach the continent in the coming 24 hours, he said.
The ash, stretching up to 6,000 meters, forced the closure of airports throughout much of northern Italy until 2pm yesterday. As the cloud moved northward, German authorities halted takeoffs and landings at Munich airport at 3pm but said high-level overflights remained possible.
Air traffic control spokeswoman Kristina Kelek said Stuttgart airport would close but it appeared that the volcanic ash was heading eastward and likely would be largely out of German airspace by midnight.
The closure of German airports forced Swiss airlines to cancel 16 flights, mainly to Germany but also to Budapest and Amsterdam, said spokesman Jean-Claude Donzel.
In Austria, several airports would close in the afternoon, with Vienna shutting at midnight. Austro Control spokesman Markus Pohanka said the flight bans were to stay in effect until this morning.
Separately, a finger of the main ash cloud centered over the mid-Atlantic at altitudes of up to 10,500 meters was touching on parts of Portugal and Spain, affecting airports at Porto, La Coruna, Vigo, and Santiago.
Portuguese airports canceled 223 flights, including 119 at Porto and 71 at Lisbon.
The Irish Aviation Authority ordered Ireland's five westernmost airports to close yesterday afternoon.
However Ireland's three biggest airports in Dublin, Shannon and Cork were expected to stay open because the cloud is remaining off Ireland's Atlantic coast.
Trans-Atlantic connections were also being diverted around a larger patch of cloud stretching from southern Greenland to the coast of Portugal, adding several hours to flights between Europe and North America and causing congestion as airlines tried to squeeze their planes through remaining routes.
Weather forecasts said the ash cloud hovering over the continent will gradually dissipate as it spreads to southern parts of Germany, the Czech Republic and Austria overnight. With Iceland volcanic eruptions weakening, the plume in the mid-Atlantic was also slowly clearing.
"We're expecting rain to thin the cloud, leaving only a small band left by Monday morning," said Daniel Gerstgrasser, meteorologist with Switzerland's national weather agency. No further ash drifts are expected to reach the continent in the coming 24 hours, he said.
The ash, stretching up to 6,000 meters, forced the closure of airports throughout much of northern Italy until 2pm yesterday. As the cloud moved northward, German authorities halted takeoffs and landings at Munich airport at 3pm but said high-level overflights remained possible.
Air traffic control spokeswoman Kristina Kelek said Stuttgart airport would close but it appeared that the volcanic ash was heading eastward and likely would be largely out of German airspace by midnight.
The closure of German airports forced Swiss airlines to cancel 16 flights, mainly to Germany but also to Budapest and Amsterdam, said spokesman Jean-Claude Donzel.
In Austria, several airports would close in the afternoon, with Vienna shutting at midnight. Austro Control spokesman Markus Pohanka said the flight bans were to stay in effect until this morning.
Separately, a finger of the main ash cloud centered over the mid-Atlantic at altitudes of up to 10,500 meters was touching on parts of Portugal and Spain, affecting airports at Porto, La Coruna, Vigo, and Santiago.
Portuguese airports canceled 223 flights, including 119 at Porto and 71 at Lisbon.
The Irish Aviation Authority ordered Ireland's five westernmost airports to close yesterday afternoon.
However Ireland's three biggest airports in Dublin, Shannon and Cork were expected to stay open because the cloud is remaining off Ireland's Atlantic coast.
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