Post by Paddy by Grace on May 5, 2010 14:31:48 GMT -7
Air passengers face a summer of disruption from Icelandic volcano
www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/travel/news/article7116174.ece#cid=OTC-RSS&attr=1185799
Airline passengers can expect disruption from the volcanic ash cloud throughout the summer, aviation regulators warned yesterday, after continued eruptions in Iceland grounded hundreds of flights once again.
The warnings came as the Civil Aviation Authority said that airspace over Scotland and Northern Ireland would be closed from 7am today. Met Office forecasts also show that it is likely that the ash will continue to move south, potentially affecting airports in the North West today.
Aviation regulators have predicted that continued seismic activity and northerly winds will drive the ash over Britain periodically for months to come. Whenever the density breaches safety guidelines set last month to ease the paralysis of European airspace, airlines must suspend flights.
The Met Office has said that ash over British airspace has increased in density as emissions from the volcano Eyjafjallajökull have become stronger, meaning forecasts of “no-fly zones” have been extended farther south.
Related Links
UK and Irish airspace reopens after shutdown
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Win a trip to Iceland's erupting volcano
EU transport ministers agreed at an emergency meeting yesterday to speed plans to unify European airspace, which they hope will ease any future disruption. Siim Kallas, the EU Transport Commissioner, said there had been progress on the plan, which would reconfigure the airspace of all 27 member states into nine larger blocks by June 2012. However, there was little sign of agreement on a state bailout of airlines, which have lost about £1.12 billion so far as a result of the ash crisis.
The Brussels meeting, attended by Lord Adonis, the Transport Secretary, was held against a backdrop of renewed disruption in Ireland and the Highlands and Islands. Flights were cancelled and thousands of passengers delayed by a six-hour closure of airports. “We could be faced with this periodically during the summer. We are probably facing a summer of uncertainty due to this ash cloud,” said Eamonn Brennan, the chief executive of the Irish Aviation Authority.
The CAA, the main aviation regulator, was confident that European guidelines agreed on April 19 should ensure that the disruption to passengers does not reach the level seen last month. “We are in a better position to cope with further disruption because we know a lot more now in terms of engine capabilities and tolerance levels,” the CAA said.
Atmospheric charts showed that vast swaths of Europe would have been closed yesterday if airlines were banned from flying in areas where there is any ash, as was the case before the volcano forced a change in aviation guidelines.
www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/travel/news/article7116174.ece#cid=OTC-RSS&attr=1185799
Airline passengers can expect disruption from the volcanic ash cloud throughout the summer, aviation regulators warned yesterday, after continued eruptions in Iceland grounded hundreds of flights once again.
The warnings came as the Civil Aviation Authority said that airspace over Scotland and Northern Ireland would be closed from 7am today. Met Office forecasts also show that it is likely that the ash will continue to move south, potentially affecting airports in the North West today.
Aviation regulators have predicted that continued seismic activity and northerly winds will drive the ash over Britain periodically for months to come. Whenever the density breaches safety guidelines set last month to ease the paralysis of European airspace, airlines must suspend flights.
The Met Office has said that ash over British airspace has increased in density as emissions from the volcano Eyjafjallajökull have become stronger, meaning forecasts of “no-fly zones” have been extended farther south.
Related Links
UK and Irish airspace reopens after shutdown
Airlines ready to sue government over volcano ash crisis?
Win a trip to Iceland's erupting volcano
EU transport ministers agreed at an emergency meeting yesterday to speed plans to unify European airspace, which they hope will ease any future disruption. Siim Kallas, the EU Transport Commissioner, said there had been progress on the plan, which would reconfigure the airspace of all 27 member states into nine larger blocks by June 2012. However, there was little sign of agreement on a state bailout of airlines, which have lost about £1.12 billion so far as a result of the ash crisis.
The Brussels meeting, attended by Lord Adonis, the Transport Secretary, was held against a backdrop of renewed disruption in Ireland and the Highlands and Islands. Flights were cancelled and thousands of passengers delayed by a six-hour closure of airports. “We could be faced with this periodically during the summer. We are probably facing a summer of uncertainty due to this ash cloud,” said Eamonn Brennan, the chief executive of the Irish Aviation Authority.
The CAA, the main aviation regulator, was confident that European guidelines agreed on April 19 should ensure that the disruption to passengers does not reach the level seen last month. “We are in a better position to cope with further disruption because we know a lot more now in terms of engine capabilities and tolerance levels,” the CAA said.
Atmospheric charts showed that vast swaths of Europe would have been closed yesterday if airlines were banned from flying in areas where there is any ash, as was the case before the volcano forced a change in aviation guidelines.