Icelandic volcanic eruption triggers flight cancellations in UK

24 May 2011

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A volcanic eruption in Iceland caused dozens of flight cancellations to and from the United Kingdom on Tuesday. Shut down of airspace has sparked an angry reaction from airline operators who are concerned over ill-informed, hasty responses from European aviation authorities.

Grímsvötn volcano on May 22, 2011. Satellite imagery credit: NASA/GSFC, MODIS Rapid ResponseEuropean air traffic controllers said on Tuesday morning that 252 flights had been cancelled as a volcanic ash cloud covered Scotland and Northern Ireland.

An ash cloud from Grimsvotn, Iceland's largest volcano, spread south and west towards the UK, resulting in contingency plans being set into motion by authorities around Europe. Angry reactions ensued as it became evident that regulators may not have bothered to absorb lessons from mass airspace closures ordered during a similar eruption last year.

That eruption led to the biggest shutdown of European airspace since World War II, resulting  in cumulative losses of hundreds of millions of dollars for airlines from around the world, who complained that complete shutdown of airspace was knee-jerk reaction that could have been better regulated.

Ryanair, EasyJet, British Airways and the KLM unit of Air France-KLM were among those cancelling services to and from Scotland through Tuesday afternoon. Continental also cancelled its flights to Scotland though its other services to the UK continued.

Scotland's main international airports in Glasgow and Edinburgh said they anticipated "disruption" on Tuesday, and cancellations extended as far south as Newcastle.

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