Volcanic Ash Cloud Causes European Air Travel Chaos

[webfact]

BreakingNews Update: Aviation officials say they expect 6,000 flights in European airspace Sat., against 22,000 normally - Reuters

BNONews: BRUSSELS (BNO NEWS) -- European air traffic officials say the impact of volcanic ash will continue for at least the next 24 hours.

[webfact]

BNONews:

EUROCONTROL: Yesterday, 16 April, there were 10,400 flights, compared to the normal 29,000 (= 18,600 flights cancelled).

No landings and take offs are possible for civilian aircraft across most of northern and central Europe

There are currently restrictions on flights in: Austria, Belgium, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Northern France

Germany, Hungary, Ireland, northern Italy, the Netherlands, southern Norway, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland & UK

In some of these areas the upper airspace has been made available, depending on the observed and forecasted area of ash contamination

Southern Europe, including Spain, the southern Balkan area, southern Italy, Bulgaria, Greece and Turkey remain open for flights.

Today, 73 of these flights have so far arrived in Europe. Others have not.

[LaoPo]

The volcano on Iceland keeps spitting enormous ash clouds and authorities fear that it could take a long time before it stops.

The weather in the hemisphere is also very nice and good...which is bad for air traveling.

It will also seriously affect the tourism industry for Thailand, for the coming days at least, since traveling to and from Europe has come to an almost complete halt.

Quite a few tourists will be stranded in Thailand and not able to return.

In Europe television showed many passengers on airports without any money, trying to jump on trains, without tickets etc.

Ferry boats to and from the UK are fully booked.

It's a mess.

LaoPo

[LaoPo]

The volcanic ash cloud from Iceland's Eyjafjallajoekull glacial region is continuing to cause severe disruption to air traffic across Northern Europe. Latest news is that disruptions will continue till Saturday afternoon. We will be updating the situation here every few hours.

From:

ATC Network

http://www.atc-network.com/News/33407/VA--...date-02-30-CET-

LaoPo

[webfact]

BNONews:

Italy extends northern airspace closure to 1800GMT

Via @WireUpdate: Eurocontrol: Impact of volcanic ash to continue until at least Sunday afternoon

Reuters: German airspace to stay closed until 2400 GMT Saturday due to ash cloud - air traffic body

Reuters: Denmark extends closure of airspace to 2400 GMT Saturday - air traffic controller Navair

UPDATE. Latest on the ashpocolypse: Eurocontrol: Impact of volcanic ash to continue until at least Sunday afternoon

ANP: KLM cancels all flights until Sunday.

[webfact]

BreakingNews: British Airways cancels all flights until Monday afternoon - Sky News

[ukrules]

This is looking worse by the day.

There's a great website to see live air traffic - of course it's very busy right now but it's a great link if you can get on it : http://flightradar24.com/

I managed to get on and made a snapshot of all European traffic a few minutes ago, here it is :

Notice the complete lack of flights over most of Europe - normally there would be several thousand little yellow planes slowly moving around the screen.

[LaoPo]

^^^^

Your image says it all.....

Most people in Thailand seem not to worry yet but the outcome will be severe and dramatic, very dramatic for many many people, including all European tourists in Asia.

Thai tourism, next to tourists, staying away because of the political protests, will get a(nother) big blow.

LaoPo

[webfact]

BNONews: AFP: Volcanic ash to remain over Europe for at least FOUR TO FIVE days.

[MB1]

If anything according to BBC news a few minutes ago the situation is getting worse.

"Restrictions on UK airspace have been extended until 0100 BST on Sunday, as the danger to planes from volcanic ash from Iceland persists.

The UK's National Air Traffic Service (Nats) said the ash cloud was "moving around and changing shape".

Officials warn that European airspace could be disrupted for several days.

Prof Brian Golding, head of forecasting research at the Met Office said: "The latest information we have suggests the ash will remain over the UK for several days.

"We need a change of wind direction that stays changed for several days and there is no sign of that in the immediate future," he added.

Restrictions had been lifted in Scotland and Northern Ireland on Friday evening but were reapplied overnight.

Hundreds of thousands of passengers have been stranded in the UK and abroad by flight cancellations.

"Current forecasts show that the situation is worsening throughout Saturday," said Nats, adding that it was "most unlikely" that many flights would operate later.

It said anyone hoping to travel should contact their airline before travelling to the airport."

Hope it don't last as long as the date someone posted earlier, now that would be a delay..

Statement on Icelandic volcanic eruption: Friday April 16, 2045

Keep smiling those who are stranded.

Edited April 17, 2010 by MB1

[LaoPo]

A Texas University researcher, who has explored Icelandic volcanoes for the past 25 years, said that if history is any indication, the erupting volcano and its immense ash plume could intensify.

Jay Miller, a research scientist in the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program who has made numerous trips to the region and studied there, said the ash produced from Icelandic volcanoes can be a real killer.

“What happens is that the magma from the volcano is around 1,200 degrees and it hits the water there, which is near freezing. What is produced is a fine ash that actually has small pieces of glass in it, and it can very easily clog up a jet engine. If you were to inhale that ash, it would literally tear up your lungs,” Miller said.

From:

NASA's satellite images show Icelandic volcanic ash moving into Germany

http://www.dnaindia.com/world/report_nasa-...germany_1372426

LaoPo

[MB1]

^^^^

Your image says it all.....

Most people in Thailand seem not to worry yet but the outcome will be severe and dramatic, very dramatic for many many people, including all European tourists in Asia.

Thai tourism, next to tourists, staying away because of the political protests, will get a(nother) big blow.

LaoPo

The longer the situation exists with regards to the ash cloud it's going to hurt many people in the pocket particularly the airlines (Worldwide), the costs their incurring due to the situation is beginning to hurt them, Friday they say it's just a headache, I wonder how long it takes the major airlines to increase prices to try and claw back some of their losses, have posted a link from a UK news paper the Guardian for anyone interested in reading it.

A little piece from the article below which was published Friday:

"BA shares fell by more than 3% . Other European airlines shares also fell, reflecting the fact that the volcanic ash cloud has disrupted flights across Europe. Ryanair, which cancelled all flights to and from the UK, Ireland, Denmark and Finland today, saw its shares drop by 2.5%, Iberia was down 3.3% and Air France shares were off by 2.9%."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/ap...e-industry-iata

Edited April 17, 2010 by MB1

[LaoPo]

Free translation from an article in De Telegraaf/Netherlands and which information is also from NASA:

Iceland fears second Volcano

Volcano Eyjafjallajokull is spitting enormous ash clouds into the air constantly but another volcano -KATLA*- is much more feared.

Katla is the most active and most dangerous volcano on Iceland and lies beneath and icecap of about 500 meters but it 110 Square Kilometers in size (!).

The last outburst was in 1918 and took 24 days. The Glacier outburst was devastating and within a few days a cubic kilometer of mud and lava went down it's slopes with a speed of 50km/hr which is 200.000 cubic meter/second.

Iceland is holding it's breath also since Geologist Sally Sennert of the influential Smithsonian Institute warned on Friday for a dramatic outburst (of the Katla). If the icecap of the Katla melts because of the enormous streams of the Eyjafjallajokull volcano, the top of the volcano could burst.

The devastating results will be impossible to over-/foresee and gigantic amounts of ashes will be launched into the atmosphere and the result will be that the world will face a (so called) deep freeze period......

Statistically the Katla has an outburst every 47 years so the option that it will burst is relatively high because of the outburst of her neighbor.

The scale of Richter for volcanoes is called the "Volcano Explosivity Index"

This scale is from 0-8 and the present outburst on Iceland has a scale of 2-3

* KATLA: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katla

LaoPo

[Mario2008]

News update from Euro control: http://www.eurocontrol.int/corporate/publi...ation_1030.html

Update on European air traffic situation - 10.30 CET 17 Apr 2010

EUROCONTROL expects approximately 6,000 flights to take place today in European airspace. On a normal Saturday, we would expect 22,000. Yesterday, 16 April, there were 10,400 flights compared to the normal 28,000.

No landings and take offs are possible for civilian aircraft across most of northern and central Europe . This includes Austria, Belgium, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Northern France, most of Germany, Hungary, Ireland, northern Italy, the Netherlands, southern Norway, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK. In some of these areas the upper airspace has been made available, depending on the observed and forecasted area of ash contamination. However, it is difficult to access this airspace as in most cases the surrounding area is not available for flights.

Southern Europe, including Spain, the southern Balkan area, southern Italy, Bulgaria, Greece and Turkey remain open and flights are taking place in these areas.

Approximately 600 trans-Atlantic flights take place each day, 300 in each direction. Of the 300 flights that would usually arrive in Europe, 73 flights have arrived in Europe this morning.

Forecasts suggest that the cloud of volcanic ash will persist and that the impact will continue for at least the next 24 hours (see map attached).

EUROCONTROL, the air navigation service providers and the airlines are working closely together to ensure that whenever airspace becomes available, even if it is only for a short time, flights are able to take place in the most efficient and safe manner.

The next update will be sent out to the press around 16:00 CET on 17 April.

For a map of the cloud look here: http://www.eurocontrol.int/corporate/galle...MAP_17april.png

[Basil B]

UPDATE

EK have now cancelled all flights to to most of Europe for tomorrow Sunday 18/04/10

From the EK website at 14:45GMT 17/04/10

"Online check in is currently suspended for all Emirates flights. We apologise for any inconvenience caused.

More than a dozen European countries have closed their airspace as the volcanic eruption in Iceland continues to cause widespread disruption.

As a result, all Emirates flights to the UK and most other European destinations have been cancelled on the 17th and 18th April.

Currently, Emirates is only accepting passengers for the following European destinations:

Moscow, Athens, Larnaca, Malta, Istanbul

These destinations could also be subject to cancellations if the path of the ash cloud continues to spread.

All passengers are advised to check the status of their flight before leaving for the airport".

[sappersrest]

Latest Nats update http://www.nats.co.uk/

Statement on Icelandic volcanic eruption: Saturday April 17, 1445

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 0700 (UK time) tomorrow, Sunday 18 April.

There may be some airspace available within Scotland, Northern Ireland and England north of Leeds up till 1900 (UK time), which may enable some domestic flights to operate under individual coordination with ATC. We will be coordinating this closely with airlines and airports. We would repeat, it is most unlikely that many flights will operate today and anyone hoping to travel should contact their airline before travelling to the airport. After 1900 (UK time), Met Office forecasts show the ash cloud progressively covering the whole of the UK.

We will continue to monitor Met Office information and review our arrangements in line with that. We will advise further arrangements at approximately 2100 (UK time) today.

BBC news "industry experts " expect this will last perhaps until Wedesday.

[Moonrakers]

For a look on the lighter side:

What has Iceland done for Britain?

Vast clouds of volcanic dust from Iceland have grounded planes in Britain and much of northern Europe, creating chaos for travellers. Which begs the question: what has Iceland done for us lately?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/...or-Britain.html

[ukrules]

I came across this, filmed in Edinburgh airport, about 6 seconds in there's quite a surprise :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34mHZgP9vkc

Edited April 17, 2010 by ukrules

[LaoPo]

Ongoing information is available through:

https://www.cfmu.eurocontrol.int/PUBPORTAL/...spec/index.html

LaoPo

[MB1]

For a look on the lighter side:

What has Iceland done for Britain?

Vast clouds of volcanic dust from Iceland have grounded planes in Britain and much of northern Europe, creating chaos for travellers. Which begs the question: what has Iceland done for us lately?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/...or-Britain.html

For a look on the lighter side, it's kind of funny that after Iceland's banking meltdown/financial crisis people asked Iceland to flash the cash, what Europe got in return was the "meltdown" of a glacier and they "flashed the ASH".

Things aint looking any better either according to the latest news and things could go on for some time, their now talking Wednesday due to the volcano continuing to erupt and spew ash towards the UK and Europe, I think I'm jinxed, cancelled Thailand myself due to protests, had this weekend cancelled for me, was going to Prague for a long weekend, ah well never mind at least I'm not stranded anywhere, keep smiling those who are stranded and hope things sort out soon.

PS, Thanks UK rules, the clip was funny....

Edited April 17, 2010 by MB1

[Charis]

A friend of mine is stuck there in Germany unable to get back to BKK. Does anyone have any suggestions if there's any nearest airport to get to for flying back? Not sure if Thai Airways will allow rerouting... his colleague Thai is worse off, with visa expiring already on date of departure. It's a real mess!

[MB1]

A friend of mine is stuck there in Germany unable to get back to BKK. Does anyone have any suggestions if there's any nearest airport to get to for flying back? Not sure if Thai Airways will allow rerouting... his colleague Thai is worse off, with visa expiring already on date of departure. It's a real mess!

Only thing I could suggest is to find a European country who's airspace is in operation and flys to BKK or is flying to another European country that flys to BKK and travel overland to that country, but you may have problems with visas, also the cost is a factor as I don't know your freinds circumstances.

Otherwise it may be a case of just sitting it out and see what happens as some flights will maybe fly if "A window of opportunity arises" .

Maybe it's time to change the thread/topic title to...

"Volcanic Ash Cloud Causes European/Worldwide Air Travel Chaos".

Edited April 17, 2010 by MB1

[astral]

Here is the afternoon report from Eurocontrol

Update on European air traffic situation - 16.30 CET 17 Apr 2010

EUROCONTROL expects approximately 5,000 flights to take place today in European airspace. On a normal Saturday, we would expect 22,000. Yesterday, 16 April, there were 10,400 flights compared to the normal 28,000.

Cloud Map April 17th http://www.eurocontrol.int/corporate/galle...p-17april-3.png

There are restrictions on civil flights across most of northern and central Europe. This includes Austria, Belgium, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, most of France, most of Germany, Hungary, Ireland, northern Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, Slovakia, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine and the UK. In some of these areas the upper airspace has been made available, depending on the observed and forecasted area of ash contamination. However, it is difficult to access this airspace as in most cases the surrounding area is not available for flights.

Southern Europe, including Spain, the southern Balkan area, southern Italy, Bulgaria, Greece and Turkey remain open and flights are taking place in these areas.

Approximately 600 trans-Atlantic flights take place each day, 300 in each direction. Of the 300 flights that would usually arrive in Europe, 73 flights arrived in Europe this morning.

EUROCONTROL, the air navigation service providers and the airlines are working closely together to ensure that whenever airspace becomes available, even if it is only for a short time, flights are able to take place in the most efficient and safe manner.

[ukrules]

A friend of mine is stuck there in Germany unable to get back to BKK. Does anyone have any suggestions if there's any nearest airport to get to for flying back? Not sure if Thai Airways will allow rerouting... his colleague Thai is worse off, with visa expiring already on date of departure. It's a real mess!

There were flights from Spain and Italy taking off a couple of hours ago so it doesn't appear to have affected there yet although I guess this could change at any time, I can't logon to the live flight site any more so it's probably overwhelmed with traffic.

[LaoPo]

Maybe few in Thailand realize it (yet) but millions of tourists are stranded everywhere: Europe, US, Central- + South Americas, Middle East, Asia.....

More than ONE million British tourists stranded abroad

Read more:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12...l#ixzz0lNMYpBlF

LaoPo

[Moonrakers]

What a lot of people don't seem to realise is that the cloud does not have to actually cover a particular country for it to be an obstacle.

[LaoPo]

Volcanic ash: Europe flights grounded for third day

Forecast scope of ash up to 10,000 Ft

Virtually all of Europe's major airports remain closed as a huge plume of volcanic ash drifts south and east across the continent from Iceland.

Millions of air travellers are stranded as thousands of flights are being cancelled for a third day.

The disruption from the spread of ash would continue into Sunday, European aviation agency Eurocontrol said.

Airlines are losing some £130m ($200m) a day in an unprecedented shutdown of commercial air travel.

"Forecasts suggest that the cloud of volcanic ash will persist and that the impact will continue for at least the next 24 hours," a statement from Eurocontrol said at around 0830 GMT.

The agency, which co-ordinates air traffic control in 38 nations, said it expected 16,000 flights to be cancelled across Europe on Saturday, from a total of 22,000 on a normal Saturday.

Many countries and airlines have grounded fleets as the ash - a mixture of glass, sand and rock particles, drifting from 5,000ft (1,500m) - can seriously damage aircraft engines.

Some 18,000 of the 28,000 daily flights in the affected zone were cancelled on Friday, twice as many as the day before.

The UK extended its ban on commercial flights until at least 0700 local time (0600 GMT) on Sunday.

Many other countries, from Ireland to Ukraine, have either closed airspace or shut key airports. In northern France and northern Italy, airports are shut until Monday.

The disruption has now affected millions of travellers since Wednesday when the Eyjafjallajoekull volcano began erupting for the second time in a month.

Scientists in Iceland said they hoped to fly above the volcano to assess how much ice has melted, now that winds have cleared visibility.

A plume of ash 8.5km (5.3 miles) high was visible on Saturday.

Continues here:

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

LaoPo

Edited April 17, 2010 by LaoPo

[sappersrest]

Latest officail uk update http://www.nats.co.uk/

Statement on Icelandic volcanic eruption: Saturday April 17, 2045

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 1300 (UK time) tomorrow, Sunday 18 April.

We will continue to monitor Met Office information and review our arrangements in line with that. We will advise further arrangements at approximately 0300 (UK time), Sunday 18 April.

[spongeman]

A friend of mine is stuck there in Germany unable to get back to BKK. Does anyone have any suggestions if there's any nearest airport to get to for flying back? Not sure if Thai Airways will allow rerouting... his colleague Thai is worse off, with visa expiring already on date of departure. It's a real mess!

There were flights from Spain and Italy taking off a couple of hours ago so it doesn't appear to have affected there yet although I guess this could change at any time, I can't logon to the live flight site any more so it's probably overwhelmed with traffic.

Saw on Sky today Brits trying to get from Spain to France by land and then accross on the boat or train, which now appear to be fully booked out for days.

Also remember whenever flights start again there will still be chaos for a while.

[LaoPo]

Volcanic ash spreads more travel misery across Europe

Page last updated at 22:29 GMT, Saturday, 17 April 2010 23:29 UK

Forecast scope of ash up to 20,000 ft

Millions of stranded travellers face further air chaos as the volcanic ash from Iceland that has closed most of Europe's airspace continues to spread.

"We don't see the light at the end of the tunnel yet," a spokesman for the international airline industry said.

An estimated three-quarters of flights were cancelled on Saturday. About 20 countries closed their airspace - some have extended flight bans into Monday.

Scientists say the Icelandic volcano activity shows no sign of abating.

Continues here:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8627720.stm

LaoPo