UAUA puts? Ash Cloud Halts 1,000 Flights Across Northwest Europe (Update1)
By Steve Rothwell and Maud Van Gaal
May 17 (Bloomberg) -- Airlines were forced to ground 1,000 flights across Europe today as the return of the Icelandic ash cloud closed terminals from Northern Ireland to the Netherlands.
London Heathrow, the region’s busiest airport, suffered more than 150 cancelations before reopening at 7 a.m. and Amsterdam Schiphol, the fifth-busiest, shut for seven hours until 1 p.m. Many flights that do operate are being delayed.
An eruption of the Eyjafjallajökull volcano on April 14 closed European airspace for six days last month, grounding 100,000 flights at a cost of $1.7 billion, according to industry figures. Dust from the 5,000-foot crater has drifted across the region intermittently in the 4 1/2 weeks since, shutting airports as far south as Morocco and the Canary Islands.
“After a relatively quiet period the volcano erupted again last week and the ash is reaching the sort of altitudes where it’s funneled south towards Europe,” U.K. Met Office spokeswoman Sarah Holland said in a telephone interview. “The forecast is for winds to become more southwesterly and that may help carry the ash away again and limit the disruption.”
Volcanic dust is a threat to planes because the abrasive, silica-based material may clog engines and scar windscreens. Speed sensors, critical in flight, can also be disabled.
No-Fly Zones
Maps of no-fly zones supplied by Eurocontrol, which oversees flight paths in the region, showed two ash clouds at lower levels, one stretching southeast from Iceland to Shetland and then south to southern Scotland, the other lying across Ireland, Wales, southern England and the English Channel.
About 28,000 flights should take place in Europe today, 1,000 less than the usual number, Eurocontrol said in a statement. About 400 services were canceled yesterday, mostly in the northwestern U.K. and Ireland, it said.
“Although the ash problem is not something that will last forever, we don’t know when it’s going to end,” said Jay Ryu, a Hong Kong-based analyst at Mirae Asset Securities Co. “This is delaying a recovery in the industry.”
The U.K. Civil Aviation Authority lifted a no-fly zone over central and northern Britain that had initially been due to apply until 1 p.m. “following further information from the Met Office about the nature and location of the ash cloud,” National Air Traffic Services Ltd. said on its website.
Dublin airport began accepting flights at midday, the Irish Aviation Authority said. Airports further north and west remain shut, including Belfast City in Northern Ireland and those in the Scottish islands of Shetland and Orkney.
BA, Ryanair
British Airways Plc reported “significant disruption” to operations this morning. Ryanair Holdings Plc, Europe’s biggest discount carrier, scrapped more than 200 flights because of airspace restrictions, according to its website.
Gatwick began accepting both takeoffs and landings from 10:55 a.m. after more than 100 cancellations. Both there and at Heathrow, passengers are being advised that some flights will still be delayed or canceled as a result of earlier closures.
“The difficulty for all of us is that this is a movable feast,” said Malcolm Robertson, a spokesman for BAA Ltd., which owns Europe’s busiest airport. “There are some operating restrictions in place which have been imposed by NATS which essentially mean there will be some delays and cancellations.”
Air France-KLM Group diverted flights headed for Amsterdam to cities including Paris, Dusseldorf and Frankfurt in Germany and Maastricht in the Netherlands.
Asian Impact
Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. diverted two London-bound flights and one heading to Amsterdam that left Hong Kong overnight, according to an e-mailed statement. Singapore Airlines Ltd. diverted two European flights and said it would operate a flight due to depart Amsterdam from Frankfurt instead.
All Nippon Airways Co. planned to delay a London-bound flight from Tokyo by an hour and warned passengers that it may still need to divert to Frankfurt or Paris, said Yoshifumi Miyake, a spokesman, by phone. Japan Airlines Corp. and Qantas Airways Ltd. intended to continue operating flights, while saying disruption was possible. Malaysian Airline System Bhd. planned to reschedule London and Amsterdam flights.
To contact the reporters on this story: Steve Rothwell in London at srothwell@bloomberg.net; Maud van Gaal at
Last Updated: May 17, 2010 07:41 EDT
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