Europe: 1,000 flights affected due to volcanic ash

Flight restrictions affecting London's two major international airports - Heathrow and Gatwick - were lifted Monday after a no-fly zone had been imposed due to dense volcanic ash drifting down from Iceland.

Restrictions remained in place in Amsterdam, Northern Ireland and smaller airports on Scottish islands, but charts published by Europe's air traffic control agency said the ash cloud should be gradually breaking up and retreating during the day.

Eurocontrol said 28,000 flights were expected Monday in Europe, about 1,000 less than normal, mainly due to disruptions in Britain and the Netherlands.

Heathrow and Gatwick were operating with delays. Gatwick said it was not accepting any arrivals until early afternoon, but flights were departing. Authorities at Heathrow said arrivals were returning to normal but warned departing passengers to expect delays and advised them to check with their airline before heading to the airport.

Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport, another of Europe's biggest air travel hubs, had to cancel some 500 flights due to the ash cloud, stranding about 60,000 passengers, spokeswoman Antoinette Spaans said.

Schiphol was to remain closed until early Monday afternoon, but by noon passengers had begun checking in for their flights.

In Ireland, Dublin's international airport was to reopen at noon Monday (1100 GMT, 7 a.m. EDT). All other airports in the Irish republic were open, with the exception of Donegal, in the country's northwest, which was to reopen later Monday.

Naviair, which manages Denmark's airspace, said airspace over the North Sea was closed until midnight GMT, forcing airplanes to fly around it, and Faeroe Islands airports were closed.

Germany sent up two test flights Sunday to measure the ash cloud. There was no word yet on the results of those tests.

Germany's air traffic control agency said Monday the latest ash cloud should not affect flights over the country.

"At this time, the concentration of ash above German air space is so low that there are no reductions in air traffic," German Air Traffic Controllers said. "Based on information from the German Weather Service, there is no expected reduction in flight traffic until further notice."

Ash can clog jet engines. The April 14 eruption at Iceland's Eyjafjallajokul volcano forced most countries in northern Europe to shut their airspace between April 15-20, grounding more than 100,000 flights and an estimated 10 million travelers worldwide. The shutdown cost airlines more than $2 billion.

In southern Iceland, there were "no major changes" in activity at the volcano, the Icelandic weather service said late Sunday. It said the ash plume was higher than in previous days because of calm weather.

It said "presently there are no indications that the eruption is about to end."

Airlines complained bitterly over the air space closures last month, calling them an overreaction. The European air safety agency last week proposed drastically narrowing the continent's no-fly zone because of volcanic ash to one similar to that used in the U.S. The proposal still must be approved.

Eurostar, which runs trains between Britain and continental Europe, added four extra trains Monday - an additional 3,500 seats - between London and Paris.

Eyjafjallajokul (pronounced ay-yah-FYAH-lah-yer-kuhl) erupted in April for the first time in nearly two centuries. During its last eruption, starting in 1821, its emissions rumbled on for two years.

Iceland Volcanic Emits New Ash Cloud

A new plume of ash has been emitted by the Icelandic volcano that wreaked havoc on European flights last month.

The Eyjafjoell volcano has surged back to life letting off a cloud of ash measuring up to four miles high.

"The eruption has changed back to an explosive eruption, lava has stopped flowing and most of the magma gets scattered due to explosions in the crater," said a statement from the Icelandic Met Office and Institute of Earth Science.

"The ash plume rises high above the crater and considerable ash fall can be expected in wind direction. No signs of the eruption ending soon."

The move has prompted authorities to consider re-routing transatlantic flights. Ireland has had to shut some airports for the third time this week.

The Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) warned a "massive ash cloud" 1,000 miles long and 700 miles wide was hovering over the Atlantic and drifting into the country's airspace.

"While the northerly winds are keeping the bulk of the cloud out in the Atlantic, the increased size of the cloud is encroaching on Irish airspace along the west coast of Ireland," said the regulator in a statement.

Six airports would be closed until 1.00pm on Friday. Among those shutting down were Shannon and Donegal.

The fresh disruption came after Europe's skies were closed for up to a week last month by the eruption of Eyjafjoell.

It was the biggest aerial shutdown in Europe since World War II, with more than 100,000 flights cancelled and eight million passengers affected.

Signs of change in volcano's eruptions

A geophysicist in Iceland says that though the tremors are getting stronger, there is less ash coming from the volcano.

Iceland volcano throws Calais into turmoil

Iceland volcano throws Calais into turmoil
The Icalandic volcano that has emptied Europe's skies of passengers has had the opposite effect on channel ports.
After years of gradual decline, as passengers deserted its ferries in favour of flight or high-speed rail, ferry company ticket offices are suddenly under siege.

Travellers frantic to get home are converging on the Channel from around the world after their flights were grounded by the volcanic ash cloud.
The parking area at the ferry terminal is a scene of chaos – with hire cars bearing an array of foreign number plates abandoned haphazardly at jagged angles and on grass verges.

Some are left with their doors and boots hanging open – as people grab their bags and rush towards the terminal, desperate to catch the first boat.

But there is no point in hurrying: the queue for foot-passenger places snakes around the building, and passengers must wait two hours in the hot sun to buy a ticket.

Inside the building, people lie asleep on the floor and on plastic benches, exhausted after driving thousands of miles across the continent.

Others climb out of a constant stream of taxis pulling up outside the terminal – some of which have come from Romania, Spain and Italy.

Alfred and Veronica Nel arrived with their family in Calais by taxi on Tuesday morning after setting off from South Africa on Sunday.

They flew 11 hours to Madrid, where they caught a 16-hour bus ride to Paris. From there, they paid a taxi driver £400 to take them to the port.

“We are all absolutely exhausted,” said Mrs Nel, a 42-year-old book-keeper from Luton.

“We had already paid £3,450 for our flights, and now we’ve had to fund all this on top. It’s completely unexpected and it’s been awful.

“I just can’t wait to get home. The first thing I’m going to do is crash out on the bed and go to sleep.”

Mrs Nel’s 15-year-old daughter, Dominique, has already missed her final GCSE art exam and is distraught at the thought that she may fail.

Her 21-year-old son, Michael, has also missed a raft of deadlines for his degree in construction management at Nottingham Trent university.

“The whole situation is pretty shocking really,” he said. “We haven’t slept or washed for days – we’re exhausted and I’ve missed loads of really important work.”

Staff at the ferry terminal are reeling from the chaos. The port hasn’t been so busy in years, and they are completely unprepared to deal with this number of passengers.

One male employee, who asked not to be named, said: “We don’t have enough space for foot passengers and there isn’t enough room in the car park or waiting areas for all the people who are arriving from everywhere.

“People are just dumping their cars all over the place and running into the building. It is chaotic.

“The industry has been in decline for years so we don’t have enough staff to deal with all this, but the company won’t take any more on because they know this isn’t going to last.”

The chaos in Calais cannot go on forever: when the ash cloud dissipates, most passengers will abandon the port and take to the skies.

But with fresh eruptions from the Icelandic volcano, and Gordon Brown telling British tourists to converge on the Channel ports, the havoc is far from over.