Flights are being cancelled in the UK as the latest Icelandic ash cloud continues to threaten to cause supply chain chaos.
The Grímsvötn volcano is pumping a plume of ash up to 10km into the sky, causing disruption to flights from Scotland, Northern Ireland and some from England.
British Airways, KLM, Easy Jet, Flybe, BMI, Loganair and Eastern Airways have all cancelled flights.
The UK’s air traffic control service provider, Nats, said services were likely to affected from Londonderry, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Prestwick, Newcastle, Carlisle, Durham Tees Valley and Cumbernauld from around 1pm (local time) to 7pm.
But the Met Office London Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre (VAAC) was unable to provide a definite prediction on how the weather would affect the ash cloud for the rest of the week.
It said: “The outlook is very changeable, with areas of low pressure likely to track across parts of northern Britain during the remainder of the week. This means that wind direction is likely to be quite variable.”
The UK’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) said airlines had improved procedures since last April, when a volcanic eruption grounded flights across Europe for days.
Airlines can now request licences to fly through high and medium ash concentrations, providing they make a sufficient safety case.
Many carriers already have such safety cases agreed for medium-density clouds, but none has so far applied for licences to fly through high-density ash.
Also, the threshold of ash concentration that ban aircraft from flying through affected areas is 20 times higher than when the last Icelandic ash cloud grounded flights.
Andrew Haines, Chief Executive of the CAA, said: “Our number-one priority is to ensure the safety of people both onboard aircraft and on the ground.
“We can’t rule out disruption, but the arrangements that have been put in place since last year’s ash cloud mean the aviation sector is better prepared, and will help to reduce any disruption in the event that volcanic ash affects UK airspace.”
The Grímsvötn volcano began erupting on Saturday when a plume of ash reached 20km into the sky.
As a result, Icelandic air traffic control operator Isavia has established a 120-nautical mile no-fly zone around the volcano, closed the country’s main airport, Keflavik, and cancelled domestic flights.
Damian Brett | Tue, 24 May 2011, IFW News