As I am working for the Airlines in the Airfield industries at Heathrow in UK, we have had many extreme difficulties in dealing with the airport authorities (BAA & CAA), internal procedures, passengers & travel agents, shippers/consignees and cargo agents, & so on.Because the volcanic ash has been traveling down to UK & Europe after the volcano's eruption in Iceland on 14APR2010, this has caused so much, nothing but the trouble in everywhere in UK & Europe with mess & chaos in complexities of the whole airfield operations. I honestly couldn't imagine that this volcano & volcanic ash would cause such a massive perplexity for the world, although this volcano was erupted from the long distance by the thousands of miles away from us. It's incredible!From last night (20APR2010), finally the flight ban/cancellation has been lifted in UK now, perhaps the Authority felt that they couldn't hang on any longer due to the pressure from the airlines, however I generally understand that the safety should be the first priority in whatever the circumstances and reasons we've been confronted and have had.Now, we don't know how long it should take in clearing up the mess to be perfectly normal again.
Hopefully it wouldn't effect much in UK, especailly in Heathrow where I am working now, as we've received several phone calls from my families & friends, and of course from our customers, basically they are working about the situation again.
Flights banned in Ireland and parts of UK over ash risk
The Irish Republic is grounding flights for six hours on Tuesday. All flights in and out of Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic have been grounded since 0700 BST because of fresh risks from volcanic ash.
Airspace over Scotland's Outer Hebrides was closed, affecting Tiree, Barra and Benbecula airports, with Campeltown in Argyll also closed. Flights in the rest of the UK are operating as normal.
An ash plume is drifting south from the same Icelandic volcano that wreaked havoc to European air travel in April. Flights over Europe were banned for six days last month because of fears of the effect of volcanic ash on plane engines. The decision to lift the restrictions followed safety tests that showed the engines could cope in areas of low density ash.
The fresh disruption comes as European Union transport ministers are meeting in Brussels to discuss ways to improve air traffic management in the wake of last month's events. Last week a spokeswoman for EU Transport Commissioner Siim Kallas said that had there been more co-ordination at EU level, air traffic could have resumed up to three days earlier.
In the Irish Republic, aviation authorities have re-imposed a ban from 0700 to 1300 BST (0600-1200 GMT) on Tuesday.
The IAA (Irish Aviation Authority) said flights from the UK and continental Europe flying across the airspace would not be affected. And in the UK, the Civil Aviation Authority said all Northern Ireland airspace would be closed from 0700 BST. Belfast International, Belfast City and City of Derry airports will all be closed until further notice. The ban disrupted the plans of Conservative leader David Cameron, who had been due to make his first campaign visit to Northern Ireland.
Earlier, the CAA closed airspace over Scotland's Outer Hebrides from 1800 BST on Monday, disrupting flights to and from Barra and Benbecula.
Highlands and Islands Airports Ltd said flights to and from Tiree and Campbeltown were also suspended.
In a statement, the CAA said the decision followed consultation with the UK Met Office and Nats, the air traffic control service.
Flights in and out of Ireland, Northern Ireland and Scotland are all suspended
It said airspace had been closed because ash concentrations exceeded the levels agreed as safe by engine manufacturers.
"The CAA is closely monitoring the situation and will update the advice to operators and passengers as latest updates are produced by the Met Office," it added.
Nats told the BBC it would review the situation at 1200 BST.
Liam Dutton of the BBC Weather Centre said the concentration of ash was expected to become thinner by the middle part of the day.
Donie Mooney, director of operations at the IAA, said he also anticipated a break-up in the concentration by early afternoon.
He added: "The indications are that we could be back in business by the afternoon."
The situation will be reviewed by the IAA at 0800 GMT (0900 BST), Reuters news agency reported.
Irish Ferries said it had space on services between Ireland and the UK as well as Ireland and France. Hundreds of flights have been affected:
All Aer Lingus flights to and from Dublin, Cork Shannon and Belfast airports to the UK and Europe scheduled before 1300 have been cancelled. Most transatlantic flights will operate. All Ryanair flights into and out of the Irish Republic and Belfast in Northern Ireland until 1400 have been cancelled Aer Arann services to and from Derry and Donegal airports were cancelled on Monday night EasyJet warned flights departing from Scotland and Northern Ireland on Tuesday could face disruption. BAA, which operates six UK airports including Heathrow, Stansted and Glasgow, is advising passengers heading for Ireland to contact their airlines for advice.
It seems to have thankfully come to be normal at least on the every airports in GB (I don't know about the continent), but all the airlines that have had a lot of damages on their passenger & cargo sales parts will need more time for the full recovery on their markets, and on the top of this, still controting the financial recession.... unfornatunately!
That's right! The safety issue is very crucial for all the airlines, and it should be absolutely the first priority in any circumstances. That's the reason why the Authority had to ban for the air traffic.
Comments
The Irish Republic is grounding flights for six hours on Tuesday. All flights in and out of Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic have been grounded since 0700 BST because of fresh risks from volcanic ash.
Airspace over Scotland's Outer Hebrides was closed, affecting Tiree, Barra and Benbecula airports, with Campeltown in Argyll also closed. Flights in the rest of the UK are operating as normal.
An ash plume is drifting south from the same Icelandic volcano that wreaked havoc to European air travel in April. Flights over Europe were banned for six days last month because of fears of the effect of volcanic ash on plane engines. The decision to lift the restrictions followed safety tests that showed the engines could cope in areas of low density ash.
The fresh disruption comes as European Union transport ministers are meeting in Brussels to discuss ways to improve air traffic management in the wake of last month's events. Last week a spokeswoman for EU Transport Commissioner Siim Kallas said that had there been more co-ordination at EU level, air traffic could have resumed up to three days earlier.
In the Irish Republic, aviation authorities have re-imposed a ban from 0700 to 1300 BST (0600-1200 GMT) on Tuesday.
The IAA (Irish Aviation Authority) said flights from the UK and continental Europe flying across the airspace would not be affected. And in the UK, the Civil Aviation Authority said all Northern Ireland airspace would be closed from 0700 BST. Belfast International, Belfast City and City of Derry airports will all be closed until further notice. The ban disrupted the plans of Conservative leader David Cameron, who had been due to make his first campaign visit to Northern Ireland.
Earlier, the CAA closed airspace over Scotland's Outer Hebrides from 1800 BST on Monday, disrupting flights to and from Barra and Benbecula.
Highlands and Islands Airports Ltd said flights to and from Tiree and Campbeltown were also suspended.
In a statement, the CAA said the decision followed consultation with the UK Met Office and Nats, the air traffic control service.
Flights in and out of Ireland, Northern Ireland and Scotland are all suspended
It said airspace had been closed because ash concentrations exceeded the levels agreed as safe by engine manufacturers.
"The CAA is closely monitoring the situation and will update the advice to operators and passengers as latest updates are produced by the Met Office," it added.
Nats told the BBC it would review the situation at 1200 BST.
Liam Dutton of the BBC Weather Centre said the concentration of ash was expected to become thinner by the middle part of the day.
Donie Mooney, director of operations at the IAA, said he also anticipated a break-up in the concentration by early afternoon.
He added: "The indications are that we could be back in business by the afternoon."
The situation will be reviewed by the IAA at 0800 GMT (0900 BST), Reuters news agency reported.
Irish Ferries said it had space on services between Ireland and the UK as well as Ireland and France. Hundreds of flights have been affected:
All Aer Lingus flights to and from Dublin, Cork Shannon and Belfast airports to the UK and Europe scheduled before 1300 have been cancelled. Most transatlantic flights will operate. All Ryanair flights into and out of the Irish Republic and Belfast in Northern Ireland until 1400 have been cancelled Aer Arann services to and from Derry and Donegal airports were cancelled on Monday night EasyJet warned flights departing from Scotland and Northern Ireland on Tuesday could face disruption. BAA, which operates six UK airports including Heathrow, Stansted and Glasgow, is advising passengers heading for Ireland to contact their airlines for advice.
It seems to have thankfully come to be normal at least on the every airports in GB (I don't know about the continent), but all the airlines that have had a lot of damages on their passenger & cargo sales parts will need more time for the full recovery on their markets, and on the top of this, still controting the financial recession.... unfornatunately!