Icelandic volcano (hopefully ok this time)

[225]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-13489944

"Hopefully" OK this time as bigger particles so they fall a great deal quicker and a bit more known about erruptions this time.

[Javaman]

As long as this one doesn't stop me going on vacation this summer with the fiancee!

Seriously though, i do hope this passes quickly - while the disruption might be pretty localised at the moment, the knock-on effects take longer to sort out. And we all know how incapable a great many countries are in rapidly switching to alternative transport measures....

[scooby5]

My trip to Scotland then in a few weeks is being studied carefully though it re-enforced my choice of deciding to fly bmi instead of RyanAir for price sake - spending a little more, for a bit more refund/reschedule security eases the worry (a bit).

[Savage25]

I'm due to fly LHR-NYC on Friday morning. Iceland starts spewing ash again, and the Heathrow Express goes on strike that day. FML.

[SQtraveller]

My trip to Scotland then in a few weeks is being studied carefully though it re-enforced my choice of deciding to fly bmi instead of RyanAir for price sake - spending a little more, for a bit more refund/reschedule security eases the worry (a bit).

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[sqcork]

"Hopefully" OK this time as bigger particles so they fall a great deal quicker and a bit more known about erruptions this time.[/QUOTE]


The ash cloud has now dropped to height of between 3km and 5km. It was up to a height of 20kms on Sunday.

They are expecting ash cloud to have reached Heathrow by Tuesday evening.

Ryanair are not happy about disruption in Scotland, see story below.

Ryanair has demanded the re-opening of Scottish airspace after the airline operated a one-hour "verification flight" that it says confirmed there was no volcanic ash in the airspace.

Ryanair operated the flight up to 41,000 feet in Scottish airspace this morning. The aircraft took off from Glasgow Prestwick, flew to Inverness, on to Aberdeen and down to Edinburgh.

The UK's Civil Aviation Authority had earlier declared a temporary danger area over Scotland from 1am to 1pm.

However, Ryanair said its flight this morning found no visible volcanic ash cloud or any other presence of volcanic ash and that its post-flight inspection "revealed no evidence of volcanic ash on the airframe, wings or engines".

In a statement, the airline said: "The absence of any volcanic ash in the atmosphere supports Ryanair's stated view that there is no safety threat to aircraft in this mythical 'red zone' which is another misguided invention by the UK Met Office and the CAA."

Ryanair said it had also received written confirmation from both its airframe and engine manufacturers that it is safe to operate in these so called "red zones" and that "in any event, Ryanair's verification flight this morning also confirms that the "red zone" over Scotland is non-existent".

[Javaman]

I'm due to fly LHR-NYC on Friday morning. Iceland starts spewing ash again, and the Heathrow Express goes on strike that day. FML.

you best stop booking flights.....

I do think Ryanair are being far too cavalier about things. Then again, not surprising, given the general attitude exhibited by the man at the top.
If they flew and something did happen....wonder if they'd be so glib about the slew of compensation claims and potential corporate manslaughter charges that could be levelled at them?

[scooby5]

Unfortunately for a LCC dealing in relatively short-haul flights having planes in the air is far more important than to legacy airlines though it still didn't stop stellar number out of RyanAir for last year.

[kapitan]

Hamburg airport is close in the morning today because of the ash....... and I am booked to fly HAM - CPH, tomorrow morning EU time, hope all is clear by timeI check in.