Post by Paddy by Grace on May 11, 2010 4:09:47 GMT -7
Ash cloud from Iceland volcano grounds another 500 flights across Europe
www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/travel/news/article7121183.ece
More than 500 flights were cancelled across Europe yesterday as the volcanic ash cloud from Iceland closed airspace across the Iberian Peninsula and northern Mediterranean.
Aircraft were grounded in Italy, Spain, Portugal, France, Germany, Switzerland, the Irish Republic and Croatia.
Britain escaped the worst of the disruption but small airstrips in northwest Scotland closed and British Airways, easyJet and Ryanair cancelled some flights from the UK to affected destinations.
Transatlantic flights were diverted north, around the main cloud.
The Met Office warned that a high-pressure system in the mid-Atlantic would continue to drive northerly winds into Europe for the next two or three days, raising the prospect of further disruption this week.
A tongue of debris extended over Spain and Portugal and across the Northern Mediterranean. Regional airports in Spain, France and Italy were closed for much of the day. Flights were grounded at Nice airport, the main hub on the French Riviera, just three days before the Cannes Film Festival was due to begin.
The Vatican said that Pope Benedict’s four-day visit to Portugal would go ahead as planned tomorrow despite the closure of much of Portuguese airspace.
Transatlantic flights were diverted north over Greenland to avoid a cloud stretching from Iceland to the Azores. Eurocontrol, the Brussels-based agency that co-ordinates air traffic control centres across the Continent, warned airlines to carry extra fuel to allow aircraft to skirt the no-fly zone.
Departure boards at airports across Europe showed red cancellations. At Brussels airport at least six flights to the US were delayed or cancelled. In Geneva dozens of flights to Portugal, Spain, France, Ireland, Britain and Hungary were cancelled, while at Zurich airport flights to Washington, Dublin and Porto were grounded.
A strong eruption on Thursday emitted a dense ash cloud that was still present yesterday from sea level up to 20,000ft (6,000m).
Volcanologists said that seismic activity beneath the volcano was less intense yesterday
www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/travel/news/article7121183.ece
More than 500 flights were cancelled across Europe yesterday as the volcanic ash cloud from Iceland closed airspace across the Iberian Peninsula and northern Mediterranean.
Aircraft were grounded in Italy, Spain, Portugal, France, Germany, Switzerland, the Irish Republic and Croatia.
Britain escaped the worst of the disruption but small airstrips in northwest Scotland closed and British Airways, easyJet and Ryanair cancelled some flights from the UK to affected destinations.
Transatlantic flights were diverted north, around the main cloud.
The Met Office warned that a high-pressure system in the mid-Atlantic would continue to drive northerly winds into Europe for the next two or three days, raising the prospect of further disruption this week.
A tongue of debris extended over Spain and Portugal and across the Northern Mediterranean. Regional airports in Spain, France and Italy were closed for much of the day. Flights were grounded at Nice airport, the main hub on the French Riviera, just three days before the Cannes Film Festival was due to begin.
The Vatican said that Pope Benedict’s four-day visit to Portugal would go ahead as planned tomorrow despite the closure of much of Portuguese airspace.
Transatlantic flights were diverted north over Greenland to avoid a cloud stretching from Iceland to the Azores. Eurocontrol, the Brussels-based agency that co-ordinates air traffic control centres across the Continent, warned airlines to carry extra fuel to allow aircraft to skirt the no-fly zone.
Departure boards at airports across Europe showed red cancellations. At Brussels airport at least six flights to the US were delayed or cancelled. In Geneva dozens of flights to Portugal, Spain, France, Ireland, Britain and Hungary were cancelled, while at Zurich airport flights to Washington, Dublin and Porto were grounded.
A strong eruption on Thursday emitted a dense ash cloud that was still present yesterday from sea level up to 20,000ft (6,000m).
Volcanologists said that seismic activity beneath the volcano was less intense yesterday