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International air traffic has come to a bit of stand-still in some places from the recent volcanic eruption in Iceland producing an ash cloud that has drifted over to Europe.  For the past few days airlines have not been able to get planes in and out of the UK disrupting air travel just about everywhere.  

If you’ve seen the recent Hollywood block buster movie 2012, then you might be like me and thinking what the heck is going on! But, if you’re just looking for some information on the latest alert and when air traffic might return to normal check out the article below posted by our fave source for travel news, TravelMole.com.

UPDATE! 20 APRIL 2010

UK AIRSPACE RE-OPENS
 

Flights from UK airports will be able to resume from 22.00 this evening.

Much of the UK airspace will re-open in phases, the Department for Transport said.

"Most of the skies over the UK has been closed to commercial airliners due to the volcanic ash plume over the UK.

"There will continue to be some ‘no fly zones’ where concentrations of ash are at levels unsafe for flights to take place, but these will be very much smaller than the present restrictions."
The Civil Aviation Authority made the ruling to lift restrictions following increasing pressure from airlines.
 
The CAA will continue to monitor the situation with tests both in the air and on the ground.
 
"It will take for flights to settle down to normal timetables. If you are hoping to travel, you should contact your airline before travelling to the airport," the DoT said.
 
There will continue to be some ‘no fly zones’ where concentrations of ash are at levels unsafe for flights to take place, but very much smaller than the present restrictions, according to the CAA.
 
The Met Office advice is that ‘no fly zones’ do not currently cover the UK.

“Making sure that air travellers can fly safely is the CAA’s overriding priority," the authority said in lifting the ban after five days.

“The CAA has drawn together many of the world’s top aviation engineers and experts to find a way to tackle this immense challenge, unknown in the UK and Europe in living memory.
 
"Current international procedures recommend avoiding volcano ash at all times. In this case owing to the magnitude of the ash cloud, its position over Europe and the static weather conditions most of the EU airspace had to close and aircraft could not be physically routed around the problem area as there was no space to do so. We had to ensure, in a situation without precedent, that decisions made were based on a thorough gathering of data and analysis by experts.
 
"This evidence based approach helped to validate a new standard that is now being adopted across Europe.

“The major barrier to resuming flight has been understanding tolerance levels of aircraft to ash. Manufacturers have now agreed increased tolerance levels in low ash density areas.”

"Our way forward is based on international data and evidence from previous volcanic ash incidents, new data collected from test flights and additional analysis from manufacturers over the past few days. It is a conservative model allowing a significant buffer on top of the level the experts feel may pose a risk."

Travel Mole / Phil Davies

Sun, April 18th - ASH ALERT UPDATED - "No-fly" further extended until Monday evening

 
Restrictions on flights from UK airports have been further extended from 07.00 until at least 19.00 (local time) tomorrow (Monday).

The National Air Traffic Service extended the limitations into a fifth day, saying "conditions around the movement of the layers of volcanic ash cloud over the Uk remain dynamic".

The only possible flights would be in limited numbers in Shetland.

"However, anyone hoping to travel should contact their airline before travelling to the airport," NATS said.

NATS is is close dialogue with the Met office and UK air safety regulator the Civil Aviation Authority "in respect of the international civil aviation policy we follow in applying restrictions to use of airspace. We are still awaiting CAA guidance".

It added: "We are working closely with the Government, airports and airlines, and airframe and aero engine manufacturers to get a better understanding of the effects of the ash cloud and to seek solutions."

A further update is due at 03.00 in the morning.

All British Airways flights today and tomorrow (Monday) have been cancelled to and from London airports. Bmi also grounded all flights from Heathrow tomorrow.

Airlines are estimated to be losing at least $200 million a day due to the disruption, according to IATA.

*See linked stories.

Travel Mole / Phil Davies

www.ExplorerGirls.com / Courtney Crow