Volcanic Ash Cloud Causes European Air Travel Chaos

[webfact]

BreakingNews: Update: Germany closes 11 airports due to volcanic ash

Thaivisa News: THAI Airways cancelled 10 flights to Norway,UK,Denmark,Sweden, France after volcanic ash cloud in Iceland caused air space closure in Europe

[webfact]

THAI Airways cancels 10 flights to Europe

BANGKOK: -- Thai Airways International Plc this Friday announced the cancellation of flights to Europe due to air space closure following volcanic activity in Iceland Thursday morning.

Piyasvasti Amranand, THAI Airways President, said that volcanic ash cloud in Iceland caused air space closure in Scandinavia and Northern European countries resulted in air traffic disruption control throughout several European countries, prohibiting airlines from operating flights to and from Europe. Therefore the Company has cancelled a total of 10 flights to Norway, UK, Denmark, Sweden and France.

-- The Nation 2010-04-16

[newsfooter][/newsfooter]

[Rinrada]

Usually head on on a Thursday but glad not yesterday.Next joli end of May so hopefully by then..???

earliest poss change.... 1-00am Saturday...(maybe)

TG-News..

Due to a plume of volcanic ash drifting over the U.K., there is severe disruption to our operation today 15th April and both flights TG911 and TG917 are cancelled.

The decision to cancel has been made for safety reasons and on the direction from Air Traffic Control Service (NATS).

Advice for customers

For passengers who have booked directly with Thai Airways please contact our reservations on 0844 5610911 for rebooking information, if you have booked with an agent please contact your agent who will have received information in this respect.

For up to date information on this situation you can also check http://www.baa.com

[webfact]

News Release: THAI Cancels Flights to Europe Due to Volcano Eruption in Iceland

TG088ok/160410

THAI Cancels Flights to Europe Due to Volcano Eruption in Iceland

Today (16 April 2010), Thai Airways International Public Company Limited announces the cancellation of flights to Europe due to air space closure as a result of volcanic activity in Iceland yesterday morning.

Mr. Piyasvasti Amranand, THAI President, said that volcanic ash cloud in Iceland caused air space closure in Scandinavia and Northern European countries resulted in air traffic disruption control throughout several European countries, prohibiting airlines from operating flights to and from Europe. Therefore the Company has canceled a total of 10 flights to Norway, UK, Denmark, Sweden and France as follows:

Flights on Friday, 16 April 2010

(Flights departing after MIDNIGHT, the night of Friday, 15 April 2010)

Flight Number

Destination

Flight Time

TG910

Bangkok – London

0110 – 0715 hrs

TG930

Bangkok – Paris

0005 – 0705 hrs

TG950

Bangkok – Copenhagen

0120 – 0740 hrs

TG954

Bangkok – Oslo

0055 – 0725 hrs

TG960

Bangkok – Stockholm

0110 – 0700 hrs

Flights on Friday 16 April 2010

Flight Number

Destination

Flight Time

TG911

London – Bangkok

1230 – 0605*1 hrs

TG931

Paris – Bangkok

1340 – 0555*1 hrs

TG951

Copenhagen – Bangkok

1425 – 0600*1 hrs

TG955

Oslo – Bangkok

1415 – 0615*1 hrs

TG961

Stockholm – Bangkok

1430 – 0550*1 hrs

THAI advises passengers to check the status of their flights according to the Company’s announcements. For more information, please call THAI Contact Center at 0-2356-1111, 24 hours or your local THAI sales offices.

[webfact]

BBC: Restrictions preventing flights in English airspace will remain in place until 0100 BST on Saturday, says the air traffic control body Nats.

[Tywais]

"History suggests delays may last a long time" > nzherald

Video and commentary

Iceland local comments > Guardian.uk

[Tywais]

Tracking cancellations

Timesonline rolling updates

[Mario2008]

A quick look at some major European airport websites shows that they are still closed and will remian that way for some hours to come.

[Tywais]

Volcanic cloud casts shadow over US travel plans - msnbc

[webfact]

London Heathrow Flight Information

[webfact]

Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Flight Information

[Stjohnm]

Here's the interesting story about the 1982 BA flight:

Definately not a good idea to fly into ash clouds!

1982 BA Flight 09

My friend was a steward on that flight

Definite no sh!t there I was story

They made an Air Crash Investigate episode about it http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrNuY2qXWhI

[intrepidtraveller]

UK airports shut till 01.:00 Sunday morning....considering there are no flights out of London at that time of night, the very earliest flight out of London will be Sunday morning. However, its still erupting.

The last time this volcano erupted it lasted for 2 years (1821-1823)...obviously no impact on flights!!!

Off to Thailand in 2 weeks.....hope its "blown over" by then.

[syd barrett]

What happens if you are flying from BKK to a closed European airport and your are scheduled to change planes in the Middle East?

Do you still turn up at the airport?

Can you insist on flying the first leg?

Suppose you have friends to stay with in Dubai and you don't mind waiting?

Anyone know?

[Mario2008]

What happens if you are flying from BKK to a closed European airport and your are scheduled to change planes in the Middle East?

Do you still turn up at the airport?

Can you insist on flying the first leg?

Suppose you have friends to stay with in Dubai and you don't mind waiting?

Anyone know?

Contact your airline. Some planes are grounded in Europe, so they might not have a plane for the first leg.

[ukrules]

This looks like it's going to drag out and get worse to me. The volcano is still erupting today as much as it was when this started.

I am sure they are analysing wind patterns but from what I've read there isn't much wind and the 'cloud' is so large it's affecting a large chunk of Europe at the moment. It looks to me like these times they are giving out are for the next update, I would be surprised if everything returns to normal any time soon.

They forecast the cloud movements upto 18 hours ahead and in 18 hours from now it doesn't look any better than it is now.

[syd barrett]

I have done a bit of research on the web and read about some poor guy stuck at BKK because his final destination was Europe, so it looks like you will be denied boarding. As he says there are no Y seats available until 25th April.

This is a real nightmare scenario. It could last weeks?

Link Below to BKK travelers woe: (Post # 3)

Bangkok Airport Flight Problem

Edited April 16, 2010 by syd barrett

[billybong38]

Flights are cancelled at all London airports, until at least 01:00 on Saturday 17 April. This is due to volcanic ash spreading across the UK from Iceland which has caused the closure of English airspace by the UK air traffic control service (NATS).

Passengers should contact their airline for re-ticketing information.

NATS has advised that flights between Glasgow, Northern Ireland, Western Isles and North Atlantic may be allowed up to 19:00 (UK time) on Friday 16 April, subject to local weather conditions.

I noticed that the EVA and Thai flights that left bangkok bound for london at lunchtime thai time both returned to bangkok mid flight

[syd barrett]

I noticed that the EVA and Thai flights that left bangkok bound for london at lunchtime thai time both returned to bangkok mid flight

Wow, imagine hearing that news mid-flight?

[goldfinger]

And TG 922 to Frankfurt started at 1.27 PM, wondering where they go now??

[Thongkorn]

the last time this volcano erupted it lasted 18 months,

[ukrules]

Interesting article : http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405...0128298524.html

[MB1]

A list of major UK airports closed to flights or disrupted, latest news from BBC is now saying no flights into or out of UK airports with the exeption of Scotland and Northern Ireland, for most UK airports, no flights in or out until at least 01:00 GMT Saturday morning.

Advising to check with airlines before travel.

Glasgow International Airport - disrupted Disruption to flights to and from Glasgow International Airport, due to volcanic ash cloud. Check with your airline before travelling.

Manchester International Airport - disrupted Flights suspended to and from Manchester International Airport until 01:00 Saturday at the earliest, due to volcanic ash cloud. Check with your airline before travelling.

Heathrow Airport - disrupted Flights suspended to and from Heathrow Airport until 01:00 Saturday at the earliest, due to volcanic ash cloud. Check with your airline before travelling.

Edinburgh International Airport - disrupted Flights suspended to and from Edinburgh International Airport until 19:00 at the earliest, due to volcanic ash cloud. Check with your airline before travelling.

Cardiff Airport - disrupted Flights suspended to and from Cardiff Airport until 01:00 Saturday at the earliest, due to a volcanic ash cloud. Check with your airline before travelling.

Birmingham International Airport - disrupted Flights suspended to and from Birmingham International Airport until 01:00 on Saturday at the earliest due to volcanic ash cloud. Check with your airline before travelling.

Glasgow Prestwick International Airport - disrupted Disruption to flights to and from Glasgow Prestwick International Airport due to volcanic ash cloud. Check with your airline before travelling.

Belfast International Airport - disrupted Disruption to flights to and from Belfast International Airport, due to a volcanic ash cloud. Check with your airline before travelling.

Leeds Bradford Airport - disrupted Flights suspended to and from Leeds Bradford Airport until 01:00 Saturday at the earliest, due to volcanic ash cloud. Check with your airline before travelling.

Gatwick Airport - disrupted Flights suspended to and from Gatwick Airport until 01:00 Saturday at the earliest, due to volcanic ash cloud. Check with your airline before travelling.

Humberside International Airport - disrupted Flights suspended to and from Humberside International Airport until 01:00 Saturday at the earliest, due to volcanic ash cloud. Check with your airline before travelling.

Bristol Airport - disrupted Flights suspended to and from Bristol Airport until 01:00 Saturday at the earliest, due to a volcanic ash cloud. Check with your airline before travelling.

Newcastle International Airport - disrupted Flights suspended to and from Newcastle International Airport until 01:00 Saturday at the earliest, due to volcanic ash cloud. Check with your airline before travelling.

Edited April 16, 2010 by MB1

[ukrules]

They are now saying that even though the volcano is still active no more ash is being ejected at the moment.

"The situation as it stands this morning is that the eruption continues. It seems to be quite stable. There haven't been any further significant outbursts of volcanic ash from the eruption site,"

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8624464.stm

[Mario2008]

Amsterdam Schiphol airport announced that they will not resume operations before Saturday 06:00 local time.

Charle de Gaulle (Paris) at least closed till today 20:00 hours local time

Frankfurt partly operational, most flights canceled

[Basil B]

I have done a bit of research on the web and read about some poor guy stuck at BKK because his final destination was Europe, so it looks like you will be denied boarding. As he says there are no Y seats available until 25th April.

This is a real nightmare scenario. It could last weeks?

Link Below to BKK travelers woe: (Post # 3)

Bangkok Airport Flight Problem

I was lucky unlucky I flew out last Sunday.

But just wondered what help is available for those stranded in LOS?

Anybody know what travel insurance will cover?

Is there any consular support?

Seems Airlines are not doing anything other than telling passengers to rebook, with next available seats weeks ahead that is going to be a long wait for some people who may hay already spent up.

Maybe the mods could set up thread with advice for those stranded.

[goldfinger]

Who is responsible??

The Airlines?

The weather?

Island?

The Volcano??

Travel insurance does not cover this matter.

[MB1]

Who is responsible??

The Airlines?

The weather?

Island?

The Volcano??

Travel insurance does not cover this matter.

Listening to the BBC some insurance companies are saying they will pay out, some are saying they will not, others are saying they are unsure as to what they will do so the information is pretty vauge for most people, I personally if affected and stranded would keep all receipts of extra costs incurred if my travel was delayed and take it up with my insurer on my return home, also I would probably try to contact my insurer and ask them how the ash cloud situation affects my insurance.

My number one priority though would be keeping in touch with the airline I'm booked with and try to get a flight ASP.

For those stranded and who are running short of money, now might be the time to phone home and try to have funds sent via Western Union Money Transfer etc.

Edited April 16, 2010 by MB1

[Mario2008]

I have done a bit of research on the web and read about some poor guy stuck at BKK because his final destination was Europe, so it looks like you will be denied boarding. As he says there are no Y seats available until 25th April.

This is a real nightmare scenario. It could last weeks?

Link Below to BKK travelers woe: (Post # 3)

Bangkok Airport Flight Problem

I was lucky unlucky I flew out last Sunday.

But just wondered what help is available for those stranded in LOS?

Anybody know what travel insurance will cover?

Is there any consular support?

Seems Airlines are not doing anything other than telling passengers to rebook, with next available seats weeks ahead that is going to be a long wait for some people who may hay already spent up.

Maybe the mods could set up thread with advice for those stranded.

Best is to contact the airline. Under European rules they are responsible for taking care of you when stranded. But not sure if the European rules apply if you bought a ticket in the EU, but are now outside the EU.

[LaoPo]

Europe flights could be grounded into weekend by ash

with maps and more details which countries are (partly) closed.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8623534.stm

LaoPo