EUROPE'S ASH CLOUD
Posted on Friday, April 16, 2010 by Shem Banbury
The European air safety organization said the disruption, the biggest seen in the region, could last another two days and a leading volcano expert said the ash could present intermittent problems to air traffic for 6 months if the eruption continued.
Even if the disruption is short lived, the financial impact on airlines could be significant, a consultant said. The International Air Transport Association had said only days ago airlines were slowly coming out of recession.
The volcano began erupting on Wednesday for the second time in a month from below the Eyjafjallajokull glacier. It hurled a plume of ash six to 11 kilometers (3.8 to 7 miles) into the atmosphere, and this spread south east overnight.
Volcanic ash contains tiny particles of glass and pulverized rock which can damage engines and airframes and an Icelandic volcanologist said on Thursday the eruption was growing more intense.
Britain barred flights in its air space, except in emergencies, until at least 0600 GMT on Friday, with a flight returning soldiers from Afghanistan having to be held in Cyprus.
It was the first time within living memory that a natural disaster had caused such a halt, a spokeswoman for Britain's National Air Traffic Service (NATS) said. Even after the September 11, 2001 attacks, Britain did not close its air space.
John Strickland, director of air transport consultancy JLS Consulting, saw possible broader hazards.
"Iceland sits right on one of the key routes between Europe and the USA and... depending on meteorological conditions it could also affect flights from Europe to Asia so there are two big international flows which could be affected by this."
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