Volcanic Ash Causes Worldwide Flight Delays

countries in Northern Europe have closed their airspace - except for in the case of emergencies - due to the risk of flying through the volcanic ash that is being blown over by high altitude winds from Iceland. Flying through such ash, which contains tiny particles of rock, glass and sand, can cause aircraft engines to fail.

In 1982, a British Airways Boeing 747 had all four engines fail as it flew through volcanic ash over Indonesia. Captain Eric Moody and his team managed to save the day, averting disaster by restarting the engines after descending to a few thousand feet below the ash. The engines were so badly damaged that they were later scrapped. Other airlines around the world have also had close encounters with potentially dangerous volcanic ash.

Countries directly affected, but to different degrees, include Belgium, Denmark, England, Finland, France, Germany, Holland, Ireland, Norway, Scotland and Sweden.

Further afield, customers around the world with flights into Europe, and flights that were to fly over the closed airspace, are facing cancelations, diversions and delays.

Intra-regional flights in Asia, and other parts of the world, are also affected, as many aircraft are stranded in Europe until the airspace and airports re-open.

Travellers, especially those with plans to travel to, or from, northern Europe are being advised to use their airline's website as a primary source of information, or - if they can - to contact them directly to learn the latest about when their flight is expected to depart. It should be noted however, that as this is a natural phenomenon - rather than a strike or such like - there is really very little the airlines can do but wait for official clearance to fly, and nobody knows quite when that will be.

Some websites, such as the UK's National Air Traffic Services (NATS website), have experienced such heavy traffic that they took their site offline leaving just an holding page with the latest information on the situation.

Those that did have alternative means of transport available to them were quick to make bookings, filling ferries, bus services and trains rapidly.

As yet, there is no clear indication as to how long the disruptions caused by the volcanic ash will last, which is why many airlines are suggesting that travellers do not even make their way to the airport until they know for sure their plane is confirmed for take off.