Volcanic ash cloud again hits in Europe
Source: Agencies |
May 17, 2010, Monday
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A CLOUD of volcanic ash drifting from Iceland yesterday forced the closure of airports in northern England, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
All airports in Northern Ireland shut down at 1pm local time, along with others in northern England, including Manchester and Liverpool, as well as Prestwick in Scotland, the National Air Traffic Service said.
Dublin's international airport planned to close from 7pm until some time today.
British and Irish aviation authorities could not say when or if other airports would have to close, but they expected London's airports - including Heathrow, Europe's busiest - to remain open until at least 7pm yesterday and Shannon, in western Ireland, to be open until 11pm.
The German Aerospace Center sent up a test flight yesterday to measure the ash concentration, and the country's air traffic control said flights in Germany would not be affected by volcanic ash before Wednesday.
Ash can clog jet engines. The April 14 eruption at Iceland's Eyjafjallajokul volcano forced most countries in northern Europe to shut their airspace between April 15 and 20, grounding more than 100,000 flights and an estimated 10 million travelers worldwide and costing airlines more than US$2 billion.
In southern Iceland, activity at the volcano fluctuated throughout yesterday but had not particularly intensified, civil protection official Agust Gunnar Gylfason said.
He blamed the closures on shifting winds.
"What really changes the situation is the weather pattern," he said.
The Icelandic weather service said "presently there are no indications that the eruption is about to end."
"No major changes are seen in the activity and the ash cloud is slightly higher than yesterday," the agency said.
Airlines complained over the closures last month, calling them an overreaction.
Virgin Atlantic President Sir Richard Branson criticized yesterday's decision by British authorities to impose a no-fly zone.
"The closing of Manchester airspace once again is beyond a joke," Branson said in a statement. He said test flights had "shown no evidence that airlines could not continue to fly completely safely."
A spokesman for Britain's Civil Aviation Authority said Branson's remarks were "surprising" because a meeting of representatives of airline and engine manufacturers last week had agreed to find a way to ensure planes could fly safely in the volcanic ash.
"We as an organization can't just say, 'Oh, I'm sure it's all right, go fly without evidence it's safe'," Jonathan Nicholson said.
British Airways, facing cabin crew strikes beginning tomorrow, said it had canceled a small number of flights out of Manchester.
The airline's CEO, Willie Walsh, is due to meet new British Transport Secretary Philip Hammond today.
Eurostar, which runs trains between Britain and continental Europe, said it was adding four extra trains - an additional 3,500 seats - between London and Paris today.
Britain's weather service expects the winds, blowing from the northwest, to shift midweek, directing the ash away from Britain.
Eyjafjallajokul erupted in April for the first time in nearly two centuries.
All airports in Northern Ireland shut down at 1pm local time, along with others in northern England, including Manchester and Liverpool, as well as Prestwick in Scotland, the National Air Traffic Service said.
Dublin's international airport planned to close from 7pm until some time today.
British and Irish aviation authorities could not say when or if other airports would have to close, but they expected London's airports - including Heathrow, Europe's busiest - to remain open until at least 7pm yesterday and Shannon, in western Ireland, to be open until 11pm.
The German Aerospace Center sent up a test flight yesterday to measure the ash concentration, and the country's air traffic control said flights in Germany would not be affected by volcanic ash before Wednesday.
Ash can clog jet engines. The April 14 eruption at Iceland's Eyjafjallajokul volcano forced most countries in northern Europe to shut their airspace between April 15 and 20, grounding more than 100,000 flights and an estimated 10 million travelers worldwide and costing airlines more than US$2 billion.
In southern Iceland, activity at the volcano fluctuated throughout yesterday but had not particularly intensified, civil protection official Agust Gunnar Gylfason said.
He blamed the closures on shifting winds.
"What really changes the situation is the weather pattern," he said.
The Icelandic weather service said "presently there are no indications that the eruption is about to end."
"No major changes are seen in the activity and the ash cloud is slightly higher than yesterday," the agency said.
Airlines complained over the closures last month, calling them an overreaction.
Virgin Atlantic President Sir Richard Branson criticized yesterday's decision by British authorities to impose a no-fly zone.
"The closing of Manchester airspace once again is beyond a joke," Branson said in a statement. He said test flights had "shown no evidence that airlines could not continue to fly completely safely."
A spokesman for Britain's Civil Aviation Authority said Branson's remarks were "surprising" because a meeting of representatives of airline and engine manufacturers last week had agreed to find a way to ensure planes could fly safely in the volcanic ash.
"We as an organization can't just say, 'Oh, I'm sure it's all right, go fly without evidence it's safe'," Jonathan Nicholson said.
British Airways, facing cabin crew strikes beginning tomorrow, said it had canceled a small number of flights out of Manchester.
The airline's CEO, Willie Walsh, is due to meet new British Transport Secretary Philip Hammond today.
Eurostar, which runs trains between Britain and continental Europe, said it was adding four extra trains - an additional 3,500 seats - between London and Paris today.
Britain's weather service expects the winds, blowing from the northwest, to shift midweek, directing the ash away from Britain.
Eyjafjallajokul erupted in April for the first time in nearly two centuries.
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