Volcanic Ash Cloud Causes European Air Travel Chaos

[Mario2008]

1 post deleted as off topic.

I can appreciate a joke, but it is disrupting the discussion.

[sappersrest]

Confirmed at 1500 hrs UK time that UK airspace will remain closed until 7 am Sat morning . NATS will review the situation at 20 00hrs UK time this evening.

[ukrules]

This huge cloud of ash is moving across mainland Europe which will make a large barrier preventing flights from flying through it even once individual airports are open again.

I wonder how this 'moving cloud' will affect flights to / from the EU, will they fly around it - it is really large and how long will it take to dissipate into something which can't potentially damage engines.

[Tywais]

Inflammatory post deleted. Please keep responses civil and allow this topic to be informative for those affected.

[goldfinger]

This huge cloud of ash is moving across mainland Europe which will make a large barrier preventing flights from flying through it even once individual airports are open again.

I wonder how this 'moving cloud' will affect flights to / from the EU, will they fly around it - it is really large and how long will it take to dissipate into something which can't potentially damage engines.

Nobody knows, but rain would be the best to wash it out.

The problem is, the cloud/ash is up to 30000 ft, and rain clouds do not reach this area.

[MB1]

Confirmed at 1500 hrs UK time that UK airspace will remain closed until 7 am Sat morning . NATS will review the situation at 20 00hrs UK time this evening.

Some UK airspace is open.

http://www.wishawpress.co.uk/wishaw-news/s...76495-26256108/

Some flights resume after ash cloud

Apr 16 2010

Some flights were scheduled to land at a Glasgow Airport as a "window of opportunity" allowed some planes to travel despite the cloud of volcanic ash over the UK..

Air traffic control company Nats said the cloud from the Iceland eruption continued to cover much of the UK but some flights in Northern Ireland and the Western Isles of Scotland to and from Glasgow and Prestwick would continue to be allowed until 7pm Friday and that some transatlantic flights to and from Glasgow, Prestwick and Belfast could be permitted as well.

Nats said that from 7pm on Friday forecasts indicated Scottish airspace may be able to accept domestic flights within Scotland and Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, and North Atlantic flights to and from airports in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Edited April 16, 2010 by MB1

[thaicbr]

Well Qatar airways just confirmed my flight on the 17th at 10.50am from Heathrow is cancelled so i can't get home for now. <deleted>.

[ukrules]

Well Qatar airways just confirmed my flight on the 17th at 10.50am from Heathrow is cancelled so i can't get home for now. <deleted>.

Sorry to hear this, could you post an update when you finally get the flight booked so we can know which airlines are taking longer to fix the problem.

I'm flying to the UK on EVA next week, well I'm meant to be anyway, if not then I guess I'll be staying in Bangkok a bit longer. According to the EVA website all flights to Paris, London, Amsterdam and Vienna are cancelled until further notice.

I can imagine this dragging on for a few more days yet, then there will be the backlog, a huge backlog of passengers all trying to get tickets on the same flights.

Edited April 16, 2010 by ukrules

[roamer]

Pretty bad news. Ryanair are taking a brutal if somewhat realistic view of the situation and have cancelled all flights until 1am on Monday. they at least obviously don't expect any improvement.

[javel]

Pretty cool picture the Icelandic airforce have taken of the volcanos 3 craters: http://www.vg.no/uploaded/image/bilderigg/...25246825_80.jpg

It should be viewed upside down to see what it resembles.

Last time this volcano erupted in 1821 it lasted for 18 months, but not with the same intensity.

The bad news is that everytime this volcano has erupted the "big monster" sister volcano Katla has erupted at the same time.

From Katla they have found ash dated 10.000 years back in Scandinavia, Scotland, and North America.

Finnish fighterplanes flew in to the ash in northern Finland a few hours ago, and suffered serious damage to the engines (but they could land as normal)

J!!!

[ukrules]

I came a cross a similar photo somewhere.

[syd barrett]

Any news on visa situation for passengers with cancelled flights, or do they still have to pay 500 baht per day?

[astral]

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]

I wonder why it took THAI so long to wake up the the situation?

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

It will probably turn round and come back to Thailand,

just as US flights have had to turn back

Any news on visa situation for passengers with cancelled flights, or do they still have to pay 500 baht per day?

Let us hope that Thai Immigration will take a sensible and considerate approach in these cases.

[Ijustwannateach]

The typical composite cone volcano usually plugs up at the end of its eruption cycle; the huge amounts of ash during a new explosion are kind of like blowing out the clogged piping- once the way is clear for lava to come out smoothly, the eruption shouldn't be quite as messy in the air.

[sappersrest]

Copied from NATS Website http://www.nats.co.uk/ hope tis information is of some use.

Statement on Icelandic volcanic eruption: Friday April 16, 2045

The volcanic ash cloud continues to affect UK airspace. Following the latest update from the Met Office, NATS advises that the restrictions currently in place across UK controlled airspace will remain in place until at least 1300 (UK time) on Saturday April 17.

There are currently no airspace restrictions in Scotland, Northern Ireland and in an area over the North Sea that includes the Shetlands and Orkney Isles. Manchester, Liverpool and all airports North of those may be available from 0400 (UK time) – 1000 (UK time) for departures to and arrivals from the North and West subject to individual co-ordination. However, please be advised that the situation is continuously changing. Forecasts indicate that the ash cloud is expected to return over Northern England at 1000 (UK time) and it is likely that restrictions will be reintroduced.

Please note these arrangements do not mean that all flights will operate. Anyone hoping to travel today or tomorrow should contact their airline before going to the airport.

We are looking for opportunities when the ash cloud moves sufficiently for us to enable some flights to operate under individual coordination with ATC.

We will review further Met Office information and at 0900 (UK time) on Saturday we will advise further arrangements.

We continue to work closely with airports, airlines, and the rest of Europe to understand and mitigate the implications of the volcanic eruption.

[LaoPo]

The Chief of the Icelandic Volcano Institute was on Dutch television (he stranded in Amsterdam) and explained that the volcano is erupting more and more ash clouds today and the situation is far from over.

The volcano itself could continue to be active for months to come.

COUNTRIES AFFECTED

Airspace closed:

Belgium

Czech Republic

Denmark

Estonia (until at least 0000 GMT Saturday)

Finland (all commercial flights grounded)

Hungary

Latvia

Netherlands

Slovakia

Switzerland

Partial closures:

Austria

France (northern airspace, with Paris airports closed until 1200 GMT Saturday)

Germany (most airports closed)

Italy (northern airspace closed until 1200 GMT Saturday)

Lithuania (air traffic control leaving decision to fly to individual companies)

Norway (limited flights in north)

Poland

Republic of Ireland (most airspace opened Friday)

Sweden (northern airspace opened Friday)

UK (some restrictions lifted)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8626505.stm

LaoPo

[7by7]

Anybody know what travel insurance will cover?

From Iceland volcano: Travel insurance confusion

"Travel insurance policies will differ in this situation," said Nick Starling, of the Association of British Insurers (ABI). "There is no standard set of conditions which applies to a situation of this kind. Therefore customers should check their travel insurance policy, and speak to their travel insurer to understand what their individual policy covers them for in this situation."

[balo]

This is just terrible !

I'm waiting for friends to arrive and we just dont know what to expect now.

And some experts say it could last for weeks.....

[Sisaketmike]

Dutch airport Schiphol Amsterdam closed as well, at least till 19:00 local time.

A 1982 BA flight unknowingly flew into an ash cloud, shutting down all four engines

What a scary thing. All four engines shut down. There's only a little help using the ram air turbine which is a small turbine that is connected to a hydraulic pump, or electrical generator, installed in an aircraft and used as a power source. The RAT generates power from the airstream due to the speed of the aircraft. That means an emergency landing without engines, which is only possible if the aircraft is high enough and comes down in the right ankle. Sounds like 2012 to me, is that the beginning of something we can't stop? Scary.

Edited April 17, 2010 by Sisaketmike

[hudriwudri]

Austria Airspace closed full, not partial!

[doctormann]

Was due to fly to Frankfurt last night and was advised by Lufthansa to travel to Swampy and check in as normal. Arrived there to find that flight was delayed - then postponed indefinitely - then cancelled due to the "uncertain status of Frankfurt and Munich airports." LH issued us with boarding cards, didn't check in our bags and suggested that we go home, which we did.

The problem now is that it's proving impossible to get in touch with LH to try to rebook. Their customer service number in Germany - +49 1805 805 805 - just gives a recorded message in German only. Their Swampy number - 02 654 6800 - redirects you to call 02 134 2213, which just suggests that you get info from their website, and the toll-free number that LH kindly provide appears to be out of service! Wonderful!

If things don't improve by tomorrow I shall have to completely cancel the trip and hopefully get the cost of the tickets refunded. Bit of a b*gger though as they were heavily discounted and the chance of booking anything at a similar price will be slim indeed.

DM

[Sunderland]

Just to show the knock on effect this is having, I had some feedback this morning from my wife, who works on Emirates. Just before I left the Novotel hotel where she was staying near Suvarnabhumi she told me that she was expecting 20 passengers in business class on the flight from BKK to Dubai, but would probably be 30 or more as they often upgrade passengers at the moment from economy which tends to be overbooked.

However, about an hour later she called from the airport and said during the pre-flight crew briefing they were told that there would only be about 100 passengers in economy and 10 in business class. Over 200 people had cancelled their flights, presumably due to the fact that many of them would be stuck at Duabi Airport if they flew today and therefore would prefer to remain at their hotel here until the situation improves across Europe.

[astral]

UK airspace continues closed until 1800GMT on Saturday 18th according to BBC World TV 0500GMT

Other closures in northern Europe now extend into Hungary and parts of Russia

Here is the latest from European Air Traffic Control.

16 Apr 2010

EUROCONTROL expects around 12,000 flights to take place today in European airspace. On a normal day, we would expect 28,000. Yesterday, 15 April, there were 20,334 flights.

Airspace is currently not available for operation of civilian aircraft in the following countries/areas: the UK (excluding Scotland), Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Estonia, the north of France including all Paris airports, northern parts of Germany, parts of Poland including Warsaw airport and the Czech Republic.

Parts of the airspace in Ireland and Sweden have now opened. Stuttgart and Munich are still open.

Approximately 600 trans-Atlantic flights take place each day, 300 in each direction.

Of the 300 flights that would usually arrive in Europe in the morning, today, between 100 and 120 arrived in Europe.

Forecasts suggest that the cloud of volcanic ash is continuing to move east and south-east and that the impact will continue for at least the next 24 hours.

[Deksan]

Was supposed to fly from bkk->singapore -> paris on friday evening, was canceled and postponed to today. And this morning they called me and cancelled the flight again. Supposed to fly friday 23 april

Wonder what would be the consequences if this would last for a month :/

[Mario2008]

Schiphol airport at least closed till 14:00 local time:

http://www.schiphol.nl/

British airspace closed untill at least 21:00 local time

http://www.heathrowairport.com/

Nothern France airspace, inlcusing Paris, closed

http://www.aeroportsdeparis.fr/ADP/en-gb/passagers/home/

Munich airport closed

http://www.munich-airport.de/en/consumer/index.jsp

[webfact]

BNONews: Germany's Lufthansa cancels all flights until 8 p.m.

BreakingNews: Lufthansa cancels all flights until 6 p.m. GMT (2 p.m. ET) due to volcanic ash, no Lufthansa plane is flying anywhere in the world

__________________

reconfirm your flight with airline

[Basil B]

UK Air Space.

Total Closure extended until 01:00 BST 18/04/10 and may (probably) will be extended further

This includes Scotland and Ireland that had a temporary lifting of restrictions late yesterday that was reinstated over night.

[sappersrest]

latest NATS statement

Statement on Icelandic volcanic eruption: Saturday April 17, 0830

The volcanic ash cloud from Iceland is moving around and changing shape. Based on the latest information from the Met Office, NATS advises that the restrictions currently in place across UK controlled airspace will remain in place until at least 0100 (UK time) tomorrow, Sunday 18 April.

We are looking for opportunities when the ash cloud moves sufficiently for us to make some airspace available within Scotland and Northern Ireland, which may enable some domestic flights to operate under individual coordination with ATC; we will be coordinating this closely with airlines and airports. It is most unlikely that many flights will operate today and anyone hoping to travel should contact their airline before travelling to the airport.

We will continue to monitor Met Office information and review our arrangements in line with that. We will advise further arrangements at approximately 1500 (UK time).

[mrdome]

Let's face it, today is toast as well in terms of allowing major flight movements in and out of Europe. I'm supposed to fly from TXL to BKK via SIN on Thursday evening and still hopeful at this point.

[hudriwudri]

EVA Air cancelled all flights to Europe until 20th April