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Air travel disruption after the 2010 Eyjafjallajökull eruption

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Approximate depiction of the estimated ash cloud at 06:00 UTC on 17 April 2010. The current forecasts are updated at London Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre site (Met Office, UK).
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There has been continuous extensive air travel disruption across large parts of Europe since the second 2010 eruption of the Eyjafjallajökull volcano on 14 April 2010, stranding millions of travellers.

The eruption occurred beneath glacial ice, and the cold water from melting ice chilled the lava quickly, causing it to fragment into glass, creating small glass particles that get carried into the eruption plume. This, together with the magnitude of the eruption, created a glass-rich plume in the upper atmosphere, which is very hazardous to aircraft.[1] The presence and location of the plume depend upon the state of the eruption and the winds.

As a result there were significant flight delays in Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Faroe Islands, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Moldova, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, with most major European airports being closed.[2][3][4]

As of 16 April 2010 at 19:00 UTC the eruption was continuing. The forecast for 17 April at 06:00 showed a significant plume continuing over northern Europe.[5] On 16 April 20:00 UTC the ash cloud was expected to reach Kazakhstan. Jet stream forecasts call for the ash cloud plume to persist at least through April 21, as well as shift to the south to include more southerly parts of France and Italy.[6]

Context

The London Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre (VAAC) is responsible for providing information about the ash plume to the civil aviation authorities. The authorities then make decisions about when and where airspace should be closed due to the safety issues. This results in the cancellations of flights at airports across the world, not just in countries where airspace is restricted.

The most severe restrictions to air travel in recent times were in response to the attacks of 11 September 2001 in the United States; all civil air traffic in US airspace, and to and from the USA, was grounded for three days. The Eyjafjallajökull eruption grounded most air traffic in northern Europe from 15 April 2010, and there was no sign of significant improvement as of the forecast for 17 April at 06:00 UTC.[needs update]

Professor Bill McGuire of the Aon Benfield UCL Hazard Research Centre said on 15 April "Such a large eruption ... would have the potential to severely affect air travel at high northern latitudes for six months or more". The last time the volcano erupted in 1821, it spewed ash for two years. Geophysicists in Iceland said that the production of ash from Eyjafjallajokull is likely to continue at a comparable level for some days or even weeks; a geophysicist at the Icelandic Meteorological Office said "Where it disrupts travel depends on the weather. It depends how the wind carries the ash". [7] The European air traffic control organisation said on the evening of 15 April that flights could be disrupted for another 48 hours.[8]

Although dangerous for planes, the current plume is not expected to cause significant health problems in the United Kingdom, Belgium, or the Netherlands,[9][10][11] but does provide spectacular red sunsets.[12]

Airspace closures

 Austria On 16 April 2010, Austro Control had ceased air activities at airports in both Vienna and Linz, with Salzburg and Innsbruck stopping flights at 18:00 UTC and Graz and Klagenfurt following at 21:00 UTC.[13]
 Belgium On Thursday 15 April, Belgium's airspace closed at 14:30 UTC.
 Czech Republic The Czech Republic had to deal with many delays and closed airports in the northern part of the country because of the eruption. The ash arrived over the Czech Republic in 15 April 22:00 UTC+01. In 16 April the airspace was closed after partial closure of east part of the airspace, forcing some airplanes to land in the Moravia, i.e. Brno Turany. Czech airspace will remain closed at least until noon of 17 April. During 16 April, approximately 400 flights just to and from Ruzyne Airport in Prague have been cancelled.
 Denmark It was announced that Denmark's airspace was to close at 16:00 UTC, 15 April.[14]
 Estonia Estonia had to close its airspace at 00:00 UTC+01, 16 April.[citation needed]
 Faroe Islands The ash is known to be over Faroese air space.Cite error: The <ref> tag has too many names (see the help page).
 Finland Finland closed its airspace at 16 April 00:00 UTC+03 having closures before that in Northern, Western and Central parts of Finland.[15]
 France It was announced on 15 April that 24 airports in France were to close from 23:00 UTC+02 including Charles De Gaulle Airport.[16]
 Germany On 16 April, all international airports were closed in Germany.[17]

The airports in Stuttgart and Saarbrücken were closed at 16:00 UTC and Munich at 18:00 UTC.

 Hungary Hungary's airspace was closed at 17:00 UTC, 16 April.[18]
 Ireland
For information on disruption in Northern Ireland, see the United Kingdom section below.

On 15 April 2010, the Irish Aviation Authority announced restrictions on flying in Irish airspace until 06:00 UTC+01 on Friday 16 April at the earliest, with the Dublin Airport Authority's Siobhan Moore describing the event as "extraordinary" on radio programme Today with Pat Kenny.[19] Restrictions were lifted on flights to and from Cork Airport, Shannon Airport and some regional airports by the day's end but restrictions remained at Dublin Airport until 11:00 UTC+1 due to reports from the Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre in London, UK saying that the ash cloud was hovering over the east coast at this point.[19] The government's emergency planning taskforce, which included several government departments (Foreign Affairs / Health and Children / Tourism, Culture and Sport / Transport), An Garda Síochána, Met Éireann, the Irish Aviation Authority and the Dublin Airport Authority, met on the evening of 15 April to discuss the unfolding emergency.[20]

On 16 April, Irish air space was reopened for domestic flights from 10:00 UTC+01 and westward transatlantic flights resumed from Dublin Airport.[21] Irish flights which were scheduled to fly eastwards over UK and continental European airspace were grounded however, as the ash plume still threatened their air.[21] But, according to the Emergency Response Co-Ordination Committee, the problems are not over and may return soon.[21]

 Latvia In the evening of April 15 already 22 flights at Riga International Airport were cancelled, before the airspace of Latvia was being closed at 21:00 UTC.[22]

The airspace is going to remain closed until 17 April, 07:00 UTC the least.[23]

 Luxembourg Luxembourg Airport was also closed for virtually all flights on 16 April 2010.[24]
 Moldova Moldova's airspace was affected in the afternoon 16 April.[25]
 Netherlands The airspace of The Netherlands closed at 17:00 UTC, 15 April.[26]
 Norway Air travel in Norway was suspended from 14 April.

In addition to the effects on air travel, the total closure of Norwegian airspace included the 21 search and rescue and medical aircraft and helicopters in the country. The health authorities stated that the challenges faced were unprecedented in modern history, and ambulances and medical personnel were moved north and out of the cities to decentralize the service and supplant the loss of aerial transport[citation needed].

 Poland Poland closed the north part of the airspace at 20.00, 15 April, UTC+02 (i.e., Warsaw time). On 16 April the whole airspace was shut down.[27]
 Romania Romania has totally closed the north-west part of the airspace on 17 April at 00:00 local time (UTC+03), including Oradea International Airport, Satu Mare International Airport, Baia Mare Airport Cluj-Napoca International Airport, Sibiu International Airport, and Timişoara International Airport. Also the two Bucharest Airports are closed.[28][29][30][31][32][33][34]
 Slovenia Slovenia was affected by the volcanic eruption in the evening, 16 April UTC+1. The Slovenian Transport Ministry has partially closed the Slovenian airspace to the north of the 46th parallel from the ground up to the height of 35,500 feet (10,800 m) at 22:00 UTC+1, 16 April, and over the entire territory of Slovenia from the ground up to the height of 35,500 feet (10,800 m)* at 6:00 UTC+1, 17 April. The closure is planned to last till the 22:59 UTC+1, 17 April.[35]
 Sweden Sweden's airspace was closed at 20:00 UTC, 15 April.[36]
 Switzerland Switzerland's Federal office of Civil Aviation (FOCA) issued a NOTAM[37] on 16 April at 14:15 UTC stating that the FIR Switzerland will be closed for VFR and IFR operations from 16 April, 21:59 UTC to 17 April, 07:00 UTC. Police, SAR and emergency medical helicopter flights are exempted from this measure.[38] Swiss International Air Lines informed its customers on April 16 that the Zurich, Basel, Geneva and Lugano airports would be closed, and that all flights going to those airports would be cancelled.[39] Also some minor airports, such as the one in Ambri was closed.
 United Kingdom
Arrivals board in Heathrow's Terminal 5 on 16 April.

Scotland was the first country in Europe to be affected by the ash with all Scottish airports being closed by 04:00 BST on 14 April. The United Kingdom's airspace closed at 11:00 UTC (12:00 BST) on 14 April.[40] At 14:45 BST on Friday 16 April, it was announced by NATS that restrictions preventing flights in English and Welsh controlled airspace will remain in place until 13:00 BST (12:00 UTC) on 17 April at the earliest; however, from 19:00 BST Friday 16 April, ATC restrictions would be lifted in a large part of Scottish airspace including Scottish airports, Shetland, Orkney and also Northern Ireland.[41][42] The ash has been photographed over the Shetland Islands.[43]

RAF Search and rescue aircraft continued to operate as normal, as did flights between Newquay and the Isles of Scilly which operate in uncontrolled airspace at an altitude no higher than 3,000 feet (910 m).[44]

Effect on airlines

On 16 April, Irish airline Ryanair cancelled all flights to and from Britain, Ireland, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden, the Netherlands, northern France, northern Germany, Italy, Poland and the Baltic states until midday Monday 19 April. The announcement was described as "the biggest yet on any European airline".[45]

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has estimated the the airline industry worldwide loses £130 million ($200 million) a day because of the eruption.[46]

Effect on events

Main article: Aftermath of the 2010 Eyjafjallajökull eruption

The ash has disrupted the travel plans of a great many people with plans to travel within, to, or from Europe, including politicians, members of royal families, rock musicians and sports teams.

On political activities

Prime Minister of Russia Vladimir Putin postponed a trip to Murmansk on 15 April due to the presence of the ash.[47]

Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg was in New York City for a conference and became stuck there because of the air travel restrictions and unable to return to Oslo. Stoltenberg and his entourage managed to get by plane to Madrid on Friday, and then onto another plane to Basel, Switzerland. Unable to get a train ride they would be traveling the rest of the way by car and were expected to arrive in Norway on Saturday.[48]

Also, the President of Portugal, Cavaco Silva had to extend his state visit to the Czech Republic due to the volcanic ash, while Angela Merkel, Chancellor of Germany was forced to make a "surprise" visit to Portugal as she returned from the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington, D.C. She is expected to return to Germany by 10AM on Saturday.[49]

The ash plume disrupted the UK general election campaign trail on 15 April. Liberal Democrat treasury spokesperson Vince Cable's visit to Dunfermline and West Fife was terminated, as was Labour Defence Secretary Bob Ainsworth's journey to Scotland, while former Tory Chancellor Ken Clarke took a train but could not get to Hawick, so visited Perth instead.[50]

The funeral of President of Poland Lech Kaczyński, killed on 10 April 2010 in the plane crash in Smolensk was reported to be in doubt, with the travel plans of some national leaders, including Barack Obama and Nicolas Sarkozy, disrupted due to the ash plume.Cite error: The <ref> tag has too many names (see the help page). Presidential aide Jacek Sasin said a postponement until later that day or even the following day was a "very serious alternative".Cite error: The <ref> tag has too many names (see the help page).

On other events

The travel plans of members of European royal families from countries such as the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and Spain were cancelled by the ash— they had intended to travel to Copenhagen to celebrate the 70th birthday of Denmark's Queen Margrethe. The Dutch, Norwegian, and Swedish Royal Family changed their plans from air to car or rail.[51][52]


Sports teams are also affected, including French rugby league teams competing in the Challenge Cup and the British team participating in the ice hockey World Championships in Slovenia, who changed their plans from air to bus and train.[53] The situation is uncertain as the duration of the plume cannot be predicted; events are being postponed or cancelled.[54] Tennis player Andy Murray has tweeted: "Volcano news... we're all in a van driving to Barcelona for training".[55]

John Cleese spent 30,000 Norwegian kroner (roughly £3,300) on a taxi journey from Oslo to Brussels after his flight from Norway was cancelled due to the ash plume.[55] He had been appearing on Skavlan and hoped to catch the Eurostar in order be back home in London by 17 April.[55] He told Norway's TV2 before embarking on the epic journey: "It will be interesting. I'm not in a hurry".[56]

Some British musical acts scheduled to perform at the 2010 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in California, including Bad Lieutenant, Gary Numan, Delphic, Frightened Rabbit, Los Campesinos! and The Cribs have encountered flight cancellations, jeopardizing their scheduled slots, with The Cribs, Frightened Rabbit, Bad Lieutenant and Delphic being forced to cancel.[57][58][59] The only Icelandic musician scheduled to perform at the festival, Jónsi Birgisson, left Iceland prior to the eruption.[58]

The Forecasting Economic Support Group of ICAO's Comittee on Aviation Environment Protction postponed a planned summit in Bern as North American and Scandinavian members would be unable to attend.

The repatriation of five German Bundeswehr soldiers wounded in action on 15 April in Afghanistan had to be postponed due to the closing of the German airspace. The MEDEVAC plane carrying them from Termez Airbase was rerouted to Istanbul where they are to be treated pending further developments. [60]

Formula One pundit Eddie Jordan was unable to fly out to the Chinese Grand Prix. He was due to commentate on the race for BBC Sport.[61]

See also

References

Template:Wikinews3

  1. ^ "Iceland's volcanic ash halts flights across Europe" The Guardian newspaper (from AP)
  2. ^ "Cancellations due to volcanic ash in the air". Norwegian Air Shuttle. 15 April 2010. Retrieved 15 April 2010.
  3. ^ "Iceland Volcano Spewing Ash Chokes Europe Air Travel". San Francisco Chronicle. 15 April 2010. Retrieved 15 April 2010.
  4. ^ "Live: Volcanic cloud over Europe". BBC News. Retrieved 2010-04-15.
  5. ^ UK Meteorological Office Volcanic Ash Advisory from London, 16 April 2010 at 12:29
  6. ^ Metcheck.com - Atlantic Jet Stream Forecast. Regular updates.
  7. ^ "Volcano chaos as Iceland eruption empties skies in Britain" The Guardian newspaper, 16 April 2010
  8. ^ "Europe flights could be grounded for 48 hours by ash, 15 April 2010". BBC News. Retrieved 2010-04-16.
  9. ^ "Iceland volcano ash is 'no threat to human health'. 15 April 2010, 12:25 GMT". BBC News. Retrieved 2010-04-16.
  10. ^ Niet gevaarlijk voor mens, wel voor vliegtuigen/ Though dangerous for planes, not dangerous for humans. 15 April 2010 Template:Nl icon
  11. ^ Aswolk niet slecht voor gezondheid/ Ash plume not bad for health. 15 April 2010 Template:Nl icon
  12. ^ "Spectacular sunset possible this evening due to volcanic ash - send us your photos!". Bournemouth Echo. Retrieved 2010-04-16.
  13. ^ Austria starts closing airspace due to volcano ash. Business Week. 16 April 2010.
  14. ^ "Denmark plans to close airspace due volcanic ash". Reuters. 2009-02-09. Retrieved 2010-04-15.
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  16. ^ "Main Paris airport closing within hours due to ash". Forbes.com. 2001-09-11. Retrieved 2010-04-16.
  17. ^ The Earthtimes. "EXTRA: Ash to ground planes in Germany, Belgium, Netherlands | Earth Times News". Earthtimes.org. Retrieved 2010-04-15.
  18. ^ "Este hétkor lezárják a magyar légteret". Index.hu. Retrieved 2010-04-16. Template:Hu
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  20. ^ Irish flights are grounded as Icelandic ash shuts airspace. The Irish Times. 15 April 2010.
  21. ^ a b c Irish airspace restrictions lifted. RTÉ. 16 April 2010.
  22. ^ "Īslandes vulkāna dēļ pusnaktī slēgs lidostu «Rīga»". Apollo.lv. 2010-04-15. Retrieved 2010-04-16.
  23. ^ "Lidosta slēgta vismaz līdz sestdienas rītam. Pasažieri stāv rindās". Apollo.lv. 2010-04-16. Retrieved 2010-04-16.
  24. ^ "Keine Flüge vor 14 Uhr", Luxemburger Wort. Template:De icon Retrieved 16 April 2010.
  25. ^ Noinvite - Moldova
  26. ^ Luchtruim dicht om aswolk, Template:Nl
  27. ^ "Zamknięta przestrzeń powietrzna nad północną Polską — Wiadomości — WP.PL". Wiadomosci.wp.pl. Retrieved 2010-04-16.
  28. ^ "UPDATE Opt aeroporturi din tara sunt inchise de sambata dimineata. Guvernul da asigurari ca norul de cenusa vulcanica nu reprezinta un risc pentru populatie, desi OMS sustine contrariul - Esential". HotNews.ro. Retrieved 2010-04-16.
  29. ^ eruptia-vulcanica-din-islanda-anuleaza-6000-de-zboruri-in-romania-28-de-curse-sunt-anulate-de-pe-otopeni-si-baneasa
  30. ^ "Opt aeroporturi din ţară, închise. Norul vulcanic traversează România în această noapte". Realitatea .Net. Retrieved 2010-04-16.
  31. ^ [1]|
  32. ^ "Suplimente Jurnalul | Observator | Norul de cenuşă vulcanică va traversa Ungaria, România, Slovenia şi Croaţia". Jurnalul.ro. Retrieved 2010-04-16.
  33. ^ "Zeci de curse aeriene, anulate în România din cauza erupţiei vulcanice | Romania Libera". Romanialibera.ro. 2010-04-16. Retrieved 2010-04-16.
  34. ^ "Norul de cenuşă a ajuns în România. 82 de curse, anulate pe Otopeni. Zece aeroporturi din ţară sunt închise" (in Romanian). Antena3. 2010-04-17. Retrieved 2010-04-17.
  35. ^ "Zaprtje zračnega prostora Republike Slovenije" (in Slovene). Slovenia Control. 16 April 2010. Retrieved 17 April 2010. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |trans_title= ignored (|trans-title= suggested) (help)CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)
  36. ^ "Reuters AlertNet – Sweden to shut airspace due to Iceland volcano". Alertnet.org. Retrieved 2010-04-15.
  37. ^ NOTAM: LSSN-A0182/10
  38. ^ "BAZL - Aschenwolke: Schweizer Luftraum aus Sicherheitsgründen vorübergehend geschlossen". Bazl.admin.ch. Retrieved 2010-04-16.
  39. ^ "Latest Flight Update". Swiss.com. Retrieved 2010-04-16.
  40. ^ BBC News 19:40 UTC, Thursday, 15 April 2010
  41. ^ "NATS (UK air traffic control) website". NATS. Retrieved 2010-04-15.
  42. ^ BBC News 15:29 UTC, Friday, 16 April 2010
  43. ^ Space photograph of ash engulfing Britain
  44. ^ "Skybus beats the gloom", Western Morning News, 16 April 2010
  45. ^ Ash makes Ryanair cancel flights until Monday. Forbes. 16 April 2010.
  46. ^ Wearden, Graeme (16 April 2010). "Ash cloud costing airlines £130m a day". The Guardian. Retrieved 17 April 2010.
  47. ^ Iceland volcano causes flight chaos. Al Jazeera. 15 April 2010.
  48. ^ Buan, Vibeke, (16 April 2010). "Statsministeren i bil fra Sveits". Aftenposten (in Norwegian). Retrieved 17 April 2010.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link) CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  49. ^ http://tv1.rtp.pt/noticias/index.php?t=Segundo-dia-de-caos-aereo-no-Continente-Europeu.rtp&article=336807&layout=10&visual=3&tm=8 Retrieved 4-16-10
  50. ^ McGivern, Mark. Icelandic volcano could bring chaos to British skies for a YEAR. Daily Record. 16 April 2010.
  51. ^ Volcanic eruption clouds Danish queen's birthday. 15 April 2010.
  52. ^ Vulkaan verstoort koninklijk feest (Dutch) 15 April 2010.
  53. ^ Sport hit by volcanic ash cloud from Iceland. BBC. 15 April 2010.
  54. ^ Icelandic volcano puts Challenge Cup fixtures at risk. The Guardian. 15 April 2010.
  55. ^ a b c Erskine, Carrole. Taxi For Cleese: Stranded Star's 30,000 Krone Fare. Sky News. 16 April 2010.
  56. ^ Cleese splashes out on taxi journey. RTÉ. 16 April 2010.
  57. ^ British bands' Coachella Festival slots in doubt as volcanic ash shuts UK airports . NME. 15 April 2010.
  58. ^ a b Icelandic Volcano Casts a Shadow Over Indio, Calif. The New York Times: Artsbeat. 15 April 2010
  59. ^ Volcano Forces Coachella Cancellations. Pitchfork Media. 16 April 2010.
  60. ^ [2]. FOCUS Online. 16 April 2010.
  61. ^ Eason, Kevin (17 April 2010). "Lewis Hamilton quick to shrug off rivals' anger". The Times. Retrieved 17 April 2010.

External links

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