A ban on flights through UK-controlled airspace will stay in place until at least 7 a.m. on Friday due to the danger posed by a cloud of volcanic ash.
A huge ash cloud from an Icelandic volcano turned the skies of northern Europe into a no-fly zone on Thursday, stranding hundreds of thousands of passengers. The European air safety organisation said the disruption, the biggest seen in the region, could last another two days and a leading volcano expert said the ash could present intermittent problems to air traffic for six months if the eruption continued. Even if the disruption is short lived, the financial impact on airlines is likely to be significant, a consultant said.
The volcano began erupting on Wednesday for the second time in a month from below the Eyjafjallajokull glacier. It hurled a plume of ash six to 11 kilometres (3.8 to 7 miles) into the atmosphere, and this spread south east overnight. Volcanic ash contains tiny particles of glass and pulverised rock which can damage engines and airframes and an Icelandic volcanologist said on Thursday the eruption was growing more intense.
Britain barred flights in its air space, except in emergencies, until at least 7 a.m. on Friday, with a flight returning soldiers from Afghanistan having to be held in Cyprus. It was the first time “within living memory” that a natural disaster had caused such a halt, a spokeswoman for the National Air Traffic Service (NATS) said. Even after the September 11, 2001 attacks on U.S. cities, Britain did not close its air space, she said.
London, April 15 (Reuters)
