Volcanic Ash Cloud Causes European Air Travel Chaos

[mrdome]

No flights today either, is a pretty safe bet. I'd go as far to say that this will extend into Monday & Tuesday as the cloud keeps hanging around.

[keestha]

Maybe light at the end of the tunnel? Quoted from the BBC, April 18.

Dutch airline KLM and German airline Lufthansa have carried out test flights to see if it is safe for planes to fly. KLM said its plane, a Boeing 737, had reached its maximum operating altitude of about 13km in the skies over the Netherlands, and there had been no problems during the flight.

The aircraft and its engines were being inspected for possible damage. After the results of that technical inspection the airline hopes to get permission from the aviation authorities to start up operations again.

Germany's Lufthansa said it flew several planes to Frankfurt from Munich.

A spokesman said: "All airplanes have been inspected on arrival in Frankfurt but there was no damage to the cockpit windows or fuselage and no impact on the engines."

[PuddingDis]

Oh boy, this really sucks. I hope Rome won't close the airport, we have to fly Wednesday.

[zorro1]

Already posted

Edited April 18, 2010 by zorro1

[mrdome]

Lufthansa just extended all flight cancellations from 2pm CET to 8pm CET.

If we had windy and rainy weather, the situation would improve but it is sunny and there is hardly any wind at all and the volcano keeps spewing...

Coming to think of it, creating clouds and rain artificially might be a way out of this. Don't know if this is feasible.

Edited April 18, 2010 by mrdome

[Basil B]

From the FCO website:

Advice for British Nationals stranded overseas

FCO contact number

If you are calling from the UK and are concerned about a British national stranded overseas please call the FCO advice line on 020 7008 0000.

Package holidays

if you are on a package holiday contact your tour operator. Under EU legislation the organiser of a package holiday is responsible for getting passengers home and for their care and accommodation in the meantime.

Passengers travelling from an EU airport or on an EU airline

Contact your airline to confirm arrangements. Under EU legislation passengers are entitled to either a refund or to a later flight. Passengers accepting a refund will end their relationship with the airline and will have no further entitlements. Passengers who are re-routed onto a later flight will be entitled to assistance including reasonable meals and overnight accommodation. Passengers must confirm arrangements with their airline and should not assume that an airline will continue to pay for their existing accommodation.

Passengers travelling on flights from non-EU countries on non-EU airlines

Passengers should contact their airline. These flights are not covered by EU legislation and passenger rights will depend on the airline's conditions of carriage. Further information about passenger rights can be found on the website of the Air Transport Users Council and on the website of the UK Civil Aviation Authority.

Travel insurance

You should check with your insurance company. Some policies include cover for volcanic eruptions but many do not. Insurance taken out since the eruption will not include cover. For further information on travel insurance policies see the Association of British Insurers website. The ABTA website also provides useful information.

If you need to return to the UK urgently

Cconsider other travel options. Can you reach the UK by coach or train and ferry? Or fly to a country where you will be able to do this?

If you have run out of money

Ask a relative or friend to transfer money via a commercial money transfer service. The British Embassy can advise you how to do this.

If you are running out of medication

See if this is available at a local pharmacy or go to a local hospital or doctor. If you need help to find a hospital or doctor check the website of the British Embassy for this information or call the Embassy. If you are admitted to hospital, contact the British Embassy.

If your visa has expired

Contact your tour operator or the British Embassy for advice.

For other visa information

See our passort and entry requirement pages for general advice and our travel advice pages for visa requirements for individual countries.

Airline assistance

If you think that you are entitled to assistance from your airline but you have had to pay for accommodation yourself keep the receipts to follow up later with your airline.

[Humphrey Bear]

From todays MSN UK web-site

pa.press.net, Updated: 18/04/2010 05:07

UK flight restrictions extended

Restrictions on flights in and out of the UK were extended to 7pm on Sunday as Britain's air travel nightmare showed no signs of ending.

Air traffic control company Nats said the ash cloud caused by an erupting Icelandic volcano was continuing to cover the UK so the flight ban had to continue.

A spokesman said: "The volcanic ash cloud from Iceland shows continued and extensive cover of the UK.

"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 1900 (UK time) today, Sunday April 18."

A spokesman for airport operator BAA said: "Following the latest advice from Nats, all flights to and from all BAA airports are suspended until 1900 today at the earliest.

"Passengers should not travel to these airports until further notice and should remain in touch with their airlines.

"We expect Nats to provide a further update around 0900 later this morning. We appreciate the continued patience of passengers at this difficult time and will provide updates as often as possible."

Volcanologists have warned that the eruptions from Mount Eyjafjallajokull could continue for months.

And officials said airlines would continue to be subject to restrictions for as long as ash billows into British airspace.

Graeme Leitch of the Met Office said a change in the wind direction might mean flight restrictions could be lifted but there was no indication that any such change was imminent

.

So it doesn't look good for those needing to travel in the next few days - the back-log will be horrific.

[dmax]

just hope its away by june !

[midas]

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.

I don’t understand the apparent complaceny of Wille Walsh at BA when it’s a fight for their financial survival now.

BA must have a fair number of aircraft sitting idle in other countries so why don’t they at least use those for now?.

Surely they could find a redundant military airfield or underutilised airport somewhere at the edge of this ash cloud

they could use a temporary “ hub “ even if its in far eastern Europe and then charter hundreds of buses as a shuttle service from wherever that destination is?.

BA will be flat broke if this goes on for weeks because they have said they dont have any insurance. I feel they be should jumping straight into emergency plans right now. I know it would not be much fun travelling through Europe by bus, but surely its better than not knowing how long you would be stuck say in the Far East or even Australia?

[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!

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.

I don’t understand the apparent complaceny of Wille Walsh at BA when it’s a fight for their financial survival now.

BA must have a fair number of aircraft sitting idle in other countries so why don’t they at least use those for now?.

Surely they could find a redundant military airfield or underutilised airport somewhere at the edge of this ash cloud

they could use a temporary “ hub “ even if its in far eastern Europe and then charter hundreds of buses as a shuttle service from wherever that destination is?.

BA will be flat broke if this goes on for weeks because they have said they dont have any insurance. I feel they be should jumping straight into emergency plans right now. I know it would not be much fun travelling through Europe by bus, but surely its better than not knowing how long you would be stuck say in the Far East or even Australia?

just called Thai airways, (after a zillion attempts) and they said only flight home is from Rome. BUT like the U-Tapao case, passenger has to go there to queue up for tickets with no guarantee of getting one! Its horrid and no solution in sight.

[eurasianthai]

just called Thai airways, (after a zillion attempts)

I just gave up this morning and went to the airport.

There was a flight leaving to Rome at 1.30 p.m. but no other flights.

And they told us, no chance to get a flight to Rome, they're all over-booked.

As for going to Frankfurt or Paris or London., they can not tell us now. Come back tomorrow.

And well, do you have an hotel?

[tso310]

Maybe light at the end of the tunnel? Quoted from the BBC, April 18.

Dutch airline KLM and German airline Lufthansa have carried out test flights to see if it is safe for planes to fly. KLM said its plane, a Boeing 737, had reached its maximum operating altitude of about 13km in the skies over the Netherlands, and there had been no problems during the flight.

The aircraft and its engines were being inspected for possible damage. After the results of that technical inspection the airline hopes to get permission from the aviation authorities to start up operations again.

Germany's Lufthansa said it flew several planes to Frankfurt from Munich.

A spokesman said: "All airplanes have been inspected on arrival in Frankfurt but there was no damage to the cockpit windows or fuselage and no impact on the engines."

Saw the report on CNN. Question is would the insurance companies cover these flights and where could they fly to.

[LaoPo]

Live: Volcano cloud over Europe

Page last updated at 08:01 GMT, Sunday, 18 April 2010 09:01 UK

Welcome to our live coverage of the volcanic ash cloud over northern Europe. This live page will update through the day. Please refresh for the latest news, analysis and advice from experts and BBC correspondents. All times are in BST.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8627929.stm

LaoPo

[mrdome]

BA must have a fair number of aircraft sitting idle in other countries so why don’t they at least use those for now?.

Surely they could find a redundant military airfield or underutilised airport somewhere at the edge of this ash cloud

they could use a temporary “ hub “ even if its in far eastern Europe and then charter hundreds of buses as a shuttle service from wherever that destination is?.

I guess management hoped that the weekend would bring relief, now they are probably thinking the beginning of this week might. If this situation continues like this all week, we might be seeing some innovative solutions, however ferrying passengers to flights departing in another country and hundreds, possibly over a thousand miles away must be a logistical nightmare.

[eurasianthai]

And I think the Thai Airways President does not have a flight to Europe soon.

Or is he just happy to inform us of the cancelled flights?

From Thai Airways breaking news

And by the way, the picture is so out of focus, I would be shy to post it...

http://www.prthaiairways.com/thaiair_4p/fr...=en&dng=896

Edited April 18, 2010 by eurasianthai

[mrdome]

I'm changing my prediction. As the airlines are questioning the data from the computer simulation of the Vulcanic Ash Advisory Centre in London as lacking hard data, there might be flights tomorrow and possibly Tuesday but the wind will bring down more ash from Tuesday onwards.

[Sunderland]

Well as this is the end of the main tourist season maybe it's better keeping the tourists already standed here in 'terrorist' Thailand than expecting too many to be flying here from Europe.

[billybong38]

Check this out guys met office for the uk showing the coverage of ash

http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/corporate/pres...10/volcano.html

Iam a member of google groups with heathrow and gatwick.saw fotos of gatwick yesterday every gate is taken up by aircraft this going to take weeks to clear the back log of flights uk airspace closed till 0100 monday.

best of luck to everyone is stranded hope you enjoy your extended hols

[zorro1]

All of this is based on one flight a 747 that lost all four engines (they caught on fire) many years ago. They were restarted at 13000 ft . pretty compelling evidence but are all ash clouds identical? How close was that 747 to its volcano? KLM has since done test flights without problems.

Sooner or later somethings got to give and it wont be the volcano ..

The story of BA flight 009 and the words every passenger dreads ...

'Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. We have a small problem. All four engines have stopped. We are doing our damnedest to get it under control. I trust you are not in too much distress.'

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-43...l#ixzz0lRyyb3yd

Edited April 18, 2010 by zorro1

[kimamey]

Girlfriend flying to UK at 8.35 on 29th April then leaving to drive to Scotland on 30th. Not looking so good now.

[midas]

A thread like this is totally incomplete without a good conspiracy theory

" One of the largest NATO military drills is being held rather conveniently while volcanic

ash is keeping all commercial aircraft on the ground around the U.K.

That won’t stop one of the world’s largest military exercises from going forward though.

A large fleet of warships, submarines, frigates and aircraft from 10 NATO countries and

one non-NATO member has congregated here to take part in the ‘Brilliant Mariner’ maritime exercise in the Baltic Sea.

http://www.brahmand.com/news/NATO-countrie.../3645/1/10.html

[Tywais]

All of this is based on one flight a 747 that lost all four engines (they caught on fire) many years ago.

Don't focus on one single well publicized event as it was hardly the only one. Seems being prudent is a wise decision.

"This is not a hypothetical hazard, this is a real hazard," says Marianne Guffanti, head of the Volcano Hazards Program at the U.S. Geological Survey in Reston, Va. "There have been over 100 encounters of aircraft with ash clouds since the early 1970s, and the majority of these have involved some kind of [aircraft] damage."

.

.

"Six over the last twelve months"

Source

In the past 30 years, more than 90 jet-powered commercial airplanes have encountered clouds of volcanic ash and suffered damage as a result.

Source - Boeing

Finnish F-18 engine damage due to current eruption > Flight Global

[zorro1]

"Don't focus on one single well publicized event as it was hardly the only one. Seems being prudent is a wise decision."

Its the only one where a mayday was called and they were within 10 mins of death. Do some research tywais.

[Mario2008]

Update from Euro control:

Update on European air traffic situation - 12.30 CET 18 Apr 2010

EUROCONTROL expects approximately 4,000 flights to take place today in European airspace. On a normal Sunday, we would expect 24,000. By the end of today, we expect that more than 63,000 flights in total will have been cancelled since Thursday 15 April. A summary table of the impact on flights is below.

Date

Actual Flights

Flights same day previous week

% change

Wed 14 April 2010

28,087

27,912

+0.6%

Thurs 15 April 2010

20,842

28,578

-27.1%

Fri 16 April 2010

11,659

28,597

-59.2%

Sat 17 April 2010

4,886

22,653

-78.4%

Sun 18 April 2010

4,000 (expected)

24,965

-84% (expected)

Mon 19 April 2010

28,126

Sunday figures based on assumptions at 12.30CET on Sunday 18 April

At the current time, air traffic control services are not being provided to civil aircraft in the major part of European airspace. 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, north Spain, 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 possible 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 parts of Spain, Portugal, the southern Balkan area, southern Italy, Bulgaria, Greece and Turkey remain open and flights are taking place in these areas.

The next update will be sent out to the press around 18:30 CET on 18 April..

[tw25rw]

just hope its away by june !

Ditto.. June 24th I fly. Will be fuming if I can't fly because of this farce.

[astral]

Update on European air traffic situation - 12.30 CET 18 Apr 2010

EUROCONTROL expects approximately 4,000 flights to take place today in European airspace. On a normal Sunday, we would expect 24,000. By the end of today, we expect that more than 63,000 flights in total will have been cancelled since Thursday 15 April. A summary table of the impact on flights is below.

Date - Actual Flights - Flights same day previous week - % change

Wed 14 April 2010 - 28,087 - 27,912 - +0.6%

Thurs 15 April 2010 - 20,842 - 28,578 - -27.1%

Fri 16 April 2010 - 11,659 - 28,597 - -59.2%

Sat 17 April 2010 - 4,886 - 22,653 - -78.4%

Sun 18 April 2010 - 4,000 (expected) - 24,965 - -84% (expected)

Mon 19 April 2010 - - 28,126

Sunday figures based on assumptions at 12.30CET on Sunday 18 April

At the current time, air traffic control services are not being provided to civil aircraft in the major part of European airspace. 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, north Spain, 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 possible 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 parts of Spain, Portugal, the southern Balkan area, southern Italy, Bulgaria, Greece and Turkey remain open and flights are taking place in these areas.

[mrdome]

This just in: SAS has canceled almost all of their flights for Monday & Tuesday.

Flight tests over Germany and Holland showed no signs of any damage at all, however, wind conditions will worsen from Tuesday.

[ukrules]

At the current time, air traffic control services are not being provided to civil aircraft in the major part of European airspace. 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, north Spain, 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 possible ash contamination. However, it is difficult to access this airspace as in most cases the surrounding area is not available for flights.

Strangely there is one flight callsign AUA1404 which has been flying within Austria in the last 30 minutes or so.

At one point there were two Austrian Airlines planes flying within Austria according to http://www.flightradar24.com

This flight is taking a strange route, it seems to be flying around the countries border. First it went north then it turned around, maybe they are checking out the atmospheric conditions.

A flight in Norway also showed up about an hour ago.

[Priceless]

"Don't focus on one single well publicized event as it was hardly the only one. Seems being prudent is a wise decision."

Its the only one where a mayday was called and they were within 10 mins of death. Do some research tywais.

You're quite right, the pilots of KLM 867 never said the word "Mayday" (probably because of lack of time). What they said was;

Pilot KLM B–747—‘‘KLM 867 heavy we are descending now. . . we are in a fall!’’

Pilot KLM B–747—‘‘KLM 867 we need all the assistance you have sir. Give us radar vectors please!’’

(Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KLM_Flight_867 )

Thank God you're not a commercial pilot (as I once was)

/ Priceless

[Mario2008]

At the current time, air traffic control services are not being provided to civil aircraft in the major part of European airspace. 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, north Spain, 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 possible ash contamination. However, it is difficult to access this airspace as in most cases the surrounding area is not available for flights.

Strangely there is one flight callsign AUA1404 which has been flying within Austria in the last 30 minutes or so.

At one point there were two Austrian Airlines planes flying within Austria according to http://www.flightradar24.com

This flight is taking a strange route, it seems to be flying around the countries border. First it went north then it turned around, maybe they are checking out the atmospheric conditions.

A flight in Norway also showed up about an hour ago.

Probably a test flight to check the effects of the ash cloud. Similair flights have been carried out in The Netherlands and Germany.